FOR CELTIC, TOM BOYD, RANGERS TANTRUMS RING HOLLOW
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Jun 20
- 3 min read
The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.
Another week, another pointless temper tantrum from The Govan £1.49ers
However this time, not only was it petulant, inflammatory, and sprinkled with their usual dusting of misplaced supremacy, it also conveniently glossed over past precedent.
Rangers TV commentator and former player, John Brown called a refereeing decision “corrupt”, during his matchday summariser role at the final game of another trophyless season over at the Stadium he was proud to play for.
When Celtic, Tom Boyd Faced Sanction for Exactly the Same Issue, Rangers Were Silent
Now, just for the avoidance of doubt, I don’t personally have an issue with what Brown said, as much as I think the notion of referees being overtly anti-Rangers is laughable.
John Brown is a Rangers supporter as well as a former player at Ibrox. He wears his heart on his sleeve in this regard and doesn't pretend to be anything else. I respect that.
His opinion was just that, his opinion, and I think he’s perfectly entitled to it, regardless of how disconnected from reality I may consider it to be.
Where do I take issue though is Rangers alleging in this, the latest in a long line of angry, impotent statements from the club whenever they don't get things their own way, that they’ve been treated somehow differently from anyone else in this regard.
Celtic dealt with exactly the same scenario back in 2019, when our former club captain Tom Boyd made a similar, but on the face of it, far less inflamatory comment during a matchday commentary with Celtic TV.
Now, Boyd was smart enough to apply a thin veneer of allusion and innuendo in his swipe at John Beaton, a referee with a demonstrable history of, I’ll be diplomatic and say “extreme incompetence” when it comes to refereeing Celtic games fairly. He didn’t straight up call Beaton corrupt, but let’s not kid ourselves, we all knew what he was getting at.
For the record, Tom Boyd said: “If he doesn't know that’s a penalty he should not be refereeing a football game. He’ll probably be welcomed down his pub tonight again.”
This was a reference to Beaton previously being pictured in the Crown Bar, a Rangers supporters pub, drinking with other Rangers fans mere hours after refereeing a Glasgow Derby.
Boyd was censured by the SFA under article 38 of their rules that forbids comments that “contain any criticism or implication of bias or incompetence towards a match official, or any comment that may impinge upon their character”.
Now, personally, I think this rule is utter mince. Referees are no different from players, managers, or indeed any other public-facing worker. We critique the performance of players, managers and others every day. Why can’t we do the same with referees?
That being said, these are the rules. Rules that Celtic, Rangers and every other team in the SPFL agreed to respect and abide by when we signed up to contest the championship last season.
However, John Brown’s comment (which I’ll reiterate again, I don’t have an issue with as its his personal opinion and not that of the club he represents or “the stadium he played for”) goes further than anything Tom Boyd said and directly alleges corruption.
Also, much like the fallout from the death of the initial incarnation of Rangers in 2012, in their rush to play the victim card, the forces in charge at Ibrox neglect to consider just how lucky they actually are.
Brown’s comments resulted in a £3000 fine this time around. Small change, even to a club as skint as them.
However, applying the strictest letter of the law, which is what the numerous Rangers media bloggers and mainstream media lapdogs like Keith Jackson and Tom English were demanding in 2019 for Tom Boyd, Rangers could have been fined up to £100,000 for Brown’s outburst.
They got off lightly, but as usual, they play the victim, and insist they’ll be “watching closely” to make sure the rules are applied equally going forward.
Considering how much both incarnations of Rangers have gotten away with over the years, the last thing they or their rabid fanbase should be demanding is equality.
Where would they be once the “honest mistakes” and “patterns of assistance” are totally removed from Scottish football?
And still, they call us paranoid…
