‘How would favouring one team help referees’ careers?’ - Bobby Madden on bias claims, abuse, Celtic v Rangers and social media

Leading Scots referee Bobby Madden has given an insight into the pressures he faces as a top-flight whistler, in a wide-ranging radio interview.
Referee Bobby Madden. Picture: SNS GroupReferee Bobby Madden. Picture: SNS Group
Referee Bobby Madden. Picture: SNS Group

The 40-year-old official has been the man in the middle of a number of big games - including two UEFA Champions League games, four World Cup qualifiers, 24 Europa League games and 161 Scottish Premiership matches in just under nine years.

Madden has also taken charge of several Old Firm clashes - including March’s powder-keg clash at Parkhead that saw Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos receive his fifth red card of the season, Gers winger Ryan Kent punch Scott Brown and Light Blues utility man Andy Halliday dismissed after the final whistle following a post-match brawl involving players and staff from both teams.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Madden has, like many of his colleagues, been subjected to horrific abuse on social media, and accusations of favouring certain teams.

Speaking exclusively to Clyde 1’s Superscoreboard programme, Madden addressed a number of issues, including the Morelos red card, abuse suffered by referees, social media and the Scottish FA’s Judicial Panel.

He said: “TV footage shows I had absolutely no view of the [Morelos] incident. Alan [Mulvanny, assistant referee] was in line with the second last defender - that’s his responsibility.

“So I was following the ball up the field of play and I heard a roar so, naturally, I looked round and saw a player on the ground.

“Immediately the communication from Alan was ‘red card, red card, red card’ and that’s why it was dealt with so quickly.

“I think in that environment and under that pressure for Alan to pick up the incident then communicate it so clearly was a real positive.”

Following the Old Firm clash in December, which Rangers won 1-0 at Ibrox, referee John Beaton was subjected to abusive messages on social media and hasn’t refereed a match involving Celtic since.

Madden, who was on fourth-official duties at the match, continued: “I thought John had a very good game. That was the feeling at the side of the pitch.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Then you get these incidents that have happened with individuals and it’s difficult to think what is going through these people’s minds.

“But it is good to see the police have taken the strongest action and one person has already appeared in court on the back of those allegations.”

Like most referees, Madden has been accused of bias and favouring certain teams, which he admitted was “frustrating”.

“When one player who played for a club plays against them for another, does it affect his performance? We’ve seen players move between [Celtic and Rangers], does it affect their performance?

“What would [revealing what team you support] give? I think the majority of match officials are from the Central Belt. Would there be a benefit? I think it would just increase the scrutiny.

“There is a ridiculous level [of scrutiny] on match officials as it is. We are there to officiate a match, that’s all we’re there to do.

“If someone has supported a team, does that change? No. We’re judged on every performance by the SFA and by independent observers. We all want to recive the next big match, the cup final.

“We apply ourselves to try and get as much out of the game as we can, so why would we show any benefit to one team? Would it make them win one match? Get a point or three points? What is that going to do for our careers?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Nobody is going to go down that road. In this area, the majority of people support two teams and you are going to get people who cast aspersions over what team you supported, what school you went to. You can’t control that.

“What is frustrating is people who know me know that I worked in a warehouse in Bellshill for twelve years. Everyone in that warehouse knows I ran and then I played football, three matches each weekend.

“I didn’t have time to be a season ticket holder at any particular club, whatever allegations may suggest. And what’s frustrating is when these people make a comment on social media to try and support these ridiculous allegations.

Madden isn’t on Twitter, and believes none of his refereeing colleagues have active social media accounts either - because, he says, it would just give people an opportunity to contact him.

“The scrutiny on match officials is more intense in the current era given there are more cameras at matches, more platforms, more channels, more people talking.

“So it comes with the territory of being a match official. I don’t know of any referee who will actively monitor conversations on social media. I don’t think any of us have active accounts.

“I don’t think it would be a great idea for me to have a Twitter account or a Facebook or anything of that ilk. It would just give people an opportunity to contact me.”

Madden’s last remarks concerned the Judicial Panel, as he rubbished the belief that referees spend hours poring over match reports in a bid to highlight incidents for the attention of Compliance Officer Clare Whyte.

However, the reality is very different.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“People always think we submit a match report where we are sitting for hours at night going over every incident. Quite simply, we don’t,” Madden insisted.

“We record what sanctions we administer in a drop-down box with the offence, and if anything arises on the back of that the Compliance Officer will write to us asking if we saw the incident.

“Then we will describe what we saw and it’s up to the Compliance Officer at that stage to decide whether to take that forward.”