Willie Collum to back Nick Walsh on Hampden controversies

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The Celtic Star

·13 de noviembre de 2025

Willie Collum to back Nick Walsh on Hampden controversies

You can never be sure that Scottish referees won’t find a way to bend the rules of the game when it suits or perhaps when they are being subjected to intense pressure from the latest Ibrox club every time that they lose to Celtic…

theRangers go down to ten men after referee Nick Walsh shows the red card. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

In the recent Premier Sports Cup semi-final there were many incidents that were controversial and some that were clear-cut. Two though were judgement calls based on what the rule book says and therefore that’s essentially going to be down to the referee to make the call. Let’s assume that Nick Walsh, who handled the match in question, which ended in a 3-1 victory for Martin O’Neill’s Celtic, actually knows the rules.

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We say that because so many of the commentators, pundits and supporters posting on social media clearly fail in that regard.

The boot of Auston Trusty of Celtic catches Jack Butland of theRangers in the head, leading to a yellow card during the Premier Sports Cup Semi Final match between Celtic and theRangers at Hampden Park on November 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The two incidents we’re referring to are Celtic defender Auston Trust’s boot making contact with theRangers goalkeeper Jack Butland’s head and the penalty kick awarded to theRangers after the ball struck Anthony Ralston’s elbow as he fell to the ground with his arms tucked in.

If you were unfortunate enough to be a supporter of the latest Ibrox club then you’d have been screaming for a red card in both incidents for Ralston (already on a yellow) and Trusty. And Celtic supporters would have been saying there’s nothing in it regarding Trusty’s contact with Butland and that Anthony Ralston’s arms were tucked in so there’s no chance that this should be a penalty.

Jack Butland of theRangers is seen at full time during the Premier Sports Cup Semi Final match between Celtic and theRangers at Hampden Park on November 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Of course there were other incidents in this match that outside of the Celtic support are being airbrushed out of the narrative and when Willie Collum pops up with his VAR review then for instance there will be nothing said on the ‘stonewall’ penalty claim for Celtic when Reo Hatate was barged over inside theRangers six yard box at Hampden.

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Willie Collum though is reportedly going to say that Nick Walsh got it right on the Trusty tap because he was following the laws of the game, as they currently stand, to the letter. We have been posting this since the day after the game, here it is again.

Walsh judged that Trusty’s force was negligible and therefore he correctly issued a yellow card. Willie Collum apparently is going to agree with this on his VAR Review show, which will set off more moon howling from the never defeated always cheated mob across the city.

On Ralston’s penalty incident – again the rule book should be followed by those who are paid know what it currently states, and that is what Walsh did in NOT issuing a second yellow card to Ralston. As Bobby Madden explained after the game, the rules on this changes about two years ago.

Match official Willie Collum arrives at the stadium prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Before that the handball concession of a penalty would have been punished by a yellow card but the ‘double punishment’ aspect meant that the this was changed. Walsh simply followed the rules as they stand at the moment, not before the change was made globally. Michael Stewart, usually a pundit to admire, repeatedly talked about Ralston not getting a second yellow if the referee thought it was a penalty (Stewart didn’t).

Walsh’s decision on the penalty was also a judgement call and it’s fair to say that if he thinks that this is a grey area in the Scottish game then you could understand why. The penalty Celtic got against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park was meant to have brought about a change in the interpretation of what should and should not be a penalty and had Celtic got a penalty like the semi-final one on Sunday against Kilmarnock then the reaction would have been off the scale.

Referee Nick Walshshows a yellow card to Arne Engels of Celtic during the Premier Sports Cup Semi Final match between Celtic and theRangers at Hampden Park on November 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

So Collum is going to back Walsh but it’s likely that both officials are quietly a little unsure and referees must surely dread these incidents happening at all.

In conclusion, by following the rules and applying his own judgement where it was required Nick Walsh was correct to book Trusty, not to book Ralston for a second time and he opted to give the penalty to theRangers – probably as lawyers would say, on the balance of probabilities. That’s fine but what is always asked afterwards is that there needs to be consistency.

The big takeaway is that theRangers weren’t wronged by Walsh or indeed by Andrew Dallas on VAR. Indeed they did theRangers a huge favour in not pointing to the spot when Hatate was barged over while in possession of the ball.

Celtic will now face St Mirren on Sunday 14 December at Hampden Park in the Premier Sports Cup Final.

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