It is no surprise that John Beaton is one of Scotland’s top referees, and ignored by UEFA and FIFA for any worthwhile matches elsewhere.
Being from Lanarkshire is the most important aspect of refereeing in Scotland, get friendly with Hugh and Andrew Dallas and you really have to muck things up badly not to go far in a very lucrative second career.
A lack of mobility is just one of Beaton’s issues, like his friends in the Dallas family he has a real arrogance about his performances, feeling that he is the star of the show.
Midway through the first half of Celtic’s 3-0 win at Livingston was prime Beaton as he showed his disregard for the Laws of the Game and predictable double standards whenever Celtic players are involved.
In the 22nd minute a Livingston player followed through on Matt O’Riley, being street wise to Scottish football and the selective leniency of most referees the Celtic midfielder managed to escape the full intent of his opponent. Seconds later Alistair Johnston was booked for a foul with a VAR check carried out to see if the card could be upgraded.
Four minutes later we saw the laziness and arrogance of Beaton in full.
Yellow on Scales? Then another on CalMac for explaining the rules of the game to Beaton. pic.twitter.com/6IgvTsb8E1
— GrandOLTeam (@JBLuvsCeltic) September 23, 2023
Mo Sangare’s lack of control presented Liam Scales with the chance to intercept and clear the ball, the Livingston forward opted to charge in regardless and injured himself trying to hit Scales as the ball was cleared.
Play continued with Sangare lying on the plastic, the move came to an end with Celtic regaining possession.
Without any sort of explanation Beaton opted to raise a yellow card with Callum McGregor the closest player to the referee but according to the SPFL website Scales was booked for a bad foul.
Sky Sports viewers assumed that the Celtic captain had been booked but were later informed that it was Scales, presumably picking up on communications between the referee, fourth official and Steven McLean on VAR.
Beaton made no attempt to speak face to face with Scales, to explain the decision, to warn him about his future conduct.
With his membership of the Lanarkshire Referee Association Beaton will remain on the gravy train, getting to influence future matches with Liam Scales an unwarranted booking closer to being suspended.
EXCLUSIVE 🚨
John Beaton SFA probe over claims referee verbally abused supporter at Livingston v Dundee clashhttps://t.co/7kSev3mG4J pic.twitter.com/ynuJNWYfca— Scottish Express Sport (@ScotExpSport) July 29, 2022
