Controversial referee John Beaton has been named as the main whistler for the final Old Firm clash of the season as Rangers travel to Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership.
The referee is amongst the most controversial of all the officials in Scotland and finds himself at the centre of a genuinely bonkers Masonic lodge conspiracy witch-hunt.
After Rangers defeated Celtic 1-0 at Ibrox in late 2018 the media witch-hunt was so intense that Beaton had to call in Police after threats from salty Parkhead supporters genuinely convinced that the referee went out to the Crown Bar in Bellshill to celebrate the victory.
This was all enabled by the dodgy punditry of Scottish football’s very own David Icke, Chris Sutton, who suggested an SFA conspiracy was to blame for Beaton not sending Alfredo Morelos off.
Since then, the entire thing has genuinely been bonkers; John Beaton can barely do his job without moonhowling Parkhead supporters accusing him of completely baseless conspiracies.
Questions over John Beaton officiating Rangers and Celtic games
That’s led to many Rangers fans feeling like the referee cannot manage their games fairly out of fear of a backlash from the Parkhead hordes.
Similarly, there’s a feeling that the whistler takes the path of least resistance when it comes to the Parkhead side.
It sets things up whenever he officiates these matches to be genuinely vitriolic and we suspect John Beaton will find himself at the centre of things, particularly if Celtic lose against Rangers.
You need only look at the fall-out from the Scottish Cup semi-final – where Rangers were worthy winners over Celtic – and the attacks on the likes of Bobby Madden.
Alongside John Beaton, Frank Connor and Graeme Stewart will run the lines with Don Robertson the 4th official.
Just expect the usual suspects to make it all about the referee and not the football if Rangers do the business in the eastend.
Meanwhile, Rangers have gotten Europa League backing from an unlikely Premiership rival.
