“HORRIBLE”: THE REFEREE WHO INCURED THE WRATH OF CELTIC LEGEND

Referee Bobby Davidson’s performance was called “DISGRACEFUL” by Hoops great Davie Hay, as the Parkhead players were the recipients of some puzzling and dubious rulings from the Airdrie whistler.

Back then, the match official was at the core of some peculiar outcomes; on this specific afternoon, it lost Stein and the Celtic silverware.

Club legend Hay opens up to friend and writer Alex Gordon in another CQN EXCLUSIVE. Gordon co-wrote the best-selling autobiography of the former Parkhead side’s manager and players, “The Quiet Assassin,” which was released in 2009.

This is a condensed version of a chapter from the life narrative of the club ambassador.

Referees had the power to completely destroy your focus. With one foolish choice, they may instantly ruin a week’s worth of diligent work. People can then ascend like a Roman torch at that point.

During my playing career, Airdrie’s Bobby Davidson was the worst referee to officiate Celtic games. While I do not claim to be biassed, I would need to read the entire book to list all of the choices he made against Celtic that fall into the C category of contentious.

He was a continual annoyance, so you might imagine how disappointed you were to learn that the SFA had chosen him to oversee one of your games.

What magic will he work today? How could he offend thousands of Celtic supporters? He always seemed to find a way, though.

When Aberdeen faced us in the Scottish Cup Final on April 11, 1970, he officiated the match. We would play them again four days after the Dons game, just ten days after we had defeated Leeds United 1-0 at Elland Road in the European Cup semi-final.

Naturally, when Davidson blew to open the game, the players and spectators were still ecstatic. That afternoon at Hampden, the referee gave a shameful performance.

Jock Stein and Davidson, in my opinion, were always in love, and you would assume that they wouldn’t use a football game as an opportunity to settle grudges.

That afternoon, Celtic was a clear favourite; I think the odds were as high as 7/1 Aberdeen, so we were assured but not complacent. When the ball struck Bobby Murdoch in the midsection, Davidson gave our opponents a penalty kick, which brought him to notice.

Bobby approached the referee and showed him the dirt on his jersey from where the ball had struck him, but the referee would not change his decision to signal a handball. Davidson was not going to accept it; it was a penalty. Joe Harper gave the trophy to Evan Williams in the incorrect way.

We could still enter the Final because it was still early enough. As usual, we probed and searched for an opening as we smacked the ball around. Their keeper Bobby Clark was being tormented by Bobby Lennox, as usual, while he was kicking the ball with his hands.
Back then, there was no six-second regulation dictating when keepers had to release the ball. When you were losing, especially, some goalies would waltz around their zone for what seemed like forever before deciding to return the puck to play.

Clark flicked the ball up this time, but Bobby’s incredible reflexes prevented him from kicking it before he could. The keeper watched in disbelief as Bobby sprinted around him and dropped the ball into the net.

Bobby made his challenge from the side, so it wasn’t studs up directly in front of Clark, thus it wasn’t a risky move. The ball is out for grabs as soon as it is released. Bobby triumphed equitably and frankly by doing what he was fully entitled to do. But not in Davidson’s opinion.

He gave the Dons a free-kick right away, dampening our supporters’ shouts. He may have indicated by kicking the ball out of the keeper’s hands. That was not true.

It’s unfortunate that in 1970 there weren’t any slow motion replays like the ones we have today. It would have been believed that the referee made two gravely incorrect choices.

On the touchline, Big Jock was fuming, and the players were projecting the same feelings onto the pitch. After Derek McKay scored a second goal for them on a breakaway, we started to suspect that this might not be our day.

Near the finish, Bobby Lennox got one back. Then, as we pushed forward to try and steal an equaliser, they crept up the pitch again, and McKay scored a third goal after our keeper failed to stop a low ball from the right.

Referee calls had determined the Scottish Cup’s result, and they had both gone against us and in favour of our opponents. Accepting the defeat was not easy.

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