Are Scottish football referees now as poor as our players?

Scotland’s referees are fast catching up with the international team.

It’s now 16 years since Scotland reached the World Cup Finals, in France back in 1998.

With Craig Thomson missing the cut for this summer’s showpiece in Brazil, it’s now 12 years since Scotland had a referee at the Finals.

Between 1950 and 1982, we had a whistler at every one of the nine Finals, starting with George Mitchell in Brazil all the way through to Bob Valentine in Spain.

Even after missing out at Mexico in 1986, George Smith, Les Mottram and Hugh Dallas picked up the baton again and kept the tradition alive.

Dallas followed his success at the 1998 Finals with his appointment as fourth official for the 2002 World Cup Final between Brazil and Germany in Japan. Since then nothing.

No referee at Germany in 2006, no referee at South Africa four years later and now no referee in Brazil.

All of which begs the question, is the drop in the playing standards in our game now affecting the quality of referees?

Thomson, already on FIFA’s elite list, was expected to be one of the 25 selected for Brazil. Despite high ratings with UEFA, however, he was not one of nine European whistlers nominated.

It could be FIFA don’t rate Scotland’s specialist assistant referees because they now appoint all three from the same country for the referee’s team to promote better understanding.

Although England’s Howard Webb was heavily criticised after the 2010 Final between Spain and Holland when he issued 14 yellow cards and one red the Yorkshire policeman and his assistants have again been picked.

With FIFA insisting that all six of their geographical regions are represented, it certainly makes things more difficult for Scotland’s refs.

Bobby Davidson remains the only Scot to go to three World Cup Finals, in 1962, 1970 and 1974.

Charles Faultless a wonderful name for a referee followed on from George Mitchell by going to Switzerland in 1954, where he took charge of the highest-ever scoring tie in a World Cup Finals Austria 7, Switzerland 5.

As we wonder if Gordon Strachan can guide us back to the World Cup Finals, we also have to ask if we’ll have a referee good enough to make it too.

Sadly, on present evidence, the answer to both questions has to be an emphatic ‘No’.