John Beaton gets whistle for Celtic’s Ibrox trip, Steven McLean is the VAR

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The Celtic Star

·24 de fevereiro de 2026

John Beaton gets whistle for Celtic’s Ibrox trip, Steven McLean is the VAR

The Scottish FA this morning confirmed the match officials who will be handling the Scottish Premiership match on Sunday afternoon between theRangers and Champions Celtic at Ibrox Park, with the latest Glasgow Derby having a 12 noon kick-off on Sunday 1st March 2026….

Sebastian Tounekti is booked by John Beaton at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 14 September 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

And it’s no surprise to anyone reading this on The Celtic Star that they have appointed known Rangers supporters John Beaton and Steven McLean into the key positions of match referee and VAR, as confirmed this morning by The Scottish FA on their official website.

Vídeos OneFootball

Steven McLean during the Premiership match at Celtic Park against Hibs on Saturday March 18, 2023. Photo Steve Welsh

John Beaton will be assisted by David McGeachie and Calum Spence while over at VAR HQ Steven McLean will have Kevin Clancy working alongside him.

Meanwhile Celtic will be risking a second cost of £650 trying to appeal Auston Trusty’s red card issued by Matthew MacDermid after a VAR intervention before he had made any decision in the match against Hibs at Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon.

22.02.2026 Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership. Referee Matthew MacDermid conveys his VAR decision on Auston Trusty red card. Photo Kenny Ramsay IMAGO.

Celtic appealed Trusty’s earlier red card from the 2-2 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle but that was thrown out. Trusty’s latest red card means as things stand he will be suspended from the match at Ibrox on Sunday.

Yesterday Kris Boyd was talking about the side that loses this game will effectively be out of the title race and while strictly speaking that isn’t the case, he isn’t likely to be too far off the mark. Put it this way it would be a long way back into contention for Sunday’s losers.

As reported by The Scottish Sun, the Sky Sports pundit said: “Whoever loses, it’s done. Finished. It’s changed now, I fully believe Hearts will get the three points against Aberdeen on Saturday and I think, Rangers or Celtic have to win the game to stay in contact.

“That weekend there is a major, major slip-up from both of them. One of them needs to win the game.”

You can be sure that John Beaton and Steven McLean will get the message Kris Boyd is sending out. And they’ve both got plenty of previous.