Celtic’s hard-earned win against a well-drilled Motherwell side who were certainly a team well worth watching brought a breath of fresh air to the Scottish game, which is dominated by kicking and sprinting tactics and has parked buses during visits to Celtic Park and Ibrox…
March 14, 2026, Scottish Premier League, Celtic VS Motherwell. Emmanuel Longelo receives a red card from John Beaton following a VAR review. Photo Kenny Ramsey IMAGO
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To beat the Steelers from a goal down in a pressure-filled game was a testament to the mental strength and ability of the Celtics players. However, it wasn’t just the men in crimson and amber that the Boyles had to overcome, but the men on the whistle who had a huge say in the game. That man was match referee John Beaton.
Beaton is vividly voiced “Cheating” Beaton A Celtic supporter, he has been responsible for some very questionable decisions that went against Celtic for a long time during his time as a referee.
This is not a tinfoil hat scenario, as some have suggested, this is a real situation and the evidence is widespread.
Fabio Silva’s charge into the Celtic penalty area resulted in referee John Beaton awarding a penalty. Photo Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock
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It is no secret that Beaton is a lifelong Rangers supporter. So why on earth is he or any other official with a well-known affection for Ibrox (our Championship rivals) allowed to officiate any of our or Glasgow Blues games? It happens in Scotland and only Scotland. I’ve asked before, where are the referees from Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness etc? Why are there so many referees from Lanarkshire?
That’s an argument for another time, but now it’s all about Beaton, who yesterday seemed to once again let his affection for his favorite club get the best of him, all but preventing Celtic from claiming a vital victory in the title race.
Throughout the game, Beaton made all the “wrong decisions” that favored the visiting team. It looked like we had to put our hands up because we conceded the first goal, especially from Leo Hatat, but also from Viljami Sinisalo’s hospital pass.
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But it didn’t help that we seemed to be playing against 12 men for much of the game, until the red card evened things up.
Take for example the yellow card Beaton gave Hatat for pointing out where a free kick should be taken. Hatat was right, and Bitton knew it. However, instead of telling the Motherwell players to retreat to where the incident occurred, he instead dug into his pocket and handed the Celtic midfielder a yellow card.
There were many other cards given to Celtics players – the one given to Anthony Ralston was outrageous because the Celtics substitute clearly won the ball.
The game-changing moment was subsequently dubbed Beaton’s biggest “innocent error” of the season, and it was only possible through VAR intervention, as happened at Ibrox.
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This was a good decision by VAR and ultimately the right decision was made. Yesterday, as everyone on the pitch could see, Motherwell defender Emmanuel Longelo made a clear cutback on Daizen Maeda, preventing him from a clear scoring opportunity into an empty net.
John Beaton had the best view but won a goal kick for Motherwell. This decision by the referee is shocking and he has clearly crossed the line now.
Daizen Maeda was visibly hampered in the penalty area, depriving himself of a scoring opportunity, with the only result being a penalty and a red card, but Bitton managed to “miss” the incident despite his clear vision. Everyone on the ground knew it was an illegal challenge, but somehow Beaton rejected Celtic’s appeal.
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Unfortunately for John Beaton and his friends at VAR, these “innocent errors” no longer had any hiding place and he had no choice but to award a penalty and sack the Motherwell defender after being sent to the monitor.
Fortunately for us, Tomas Cvancara kept his cool, as he did at Ibrox last week, to give us the lead before Young added another to secure a well-deserved victory.
The penalty was not controversial, in fact it was given short shrift on first viewing and was the real talking point in this great advert for a great game of football and Scotland’s game.
Just an ordinary guy
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Read this… Sandman’s Final Ratings – Celtic vs Baccawell
“Celtics in the Thirties” by Matt Cole. Click on the picture to order
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