‘Never’: Kevin Clancy’s Celtic hampden howler ridiculed

Aberdeen and the rest of the league learned a valuable lesson from Celtic’s 6-0 thumping of Aberdeen in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden, but before and after the match, supporters were talking about a perplexing refereeing call. In the first few minutes, Celtic captain Callum McGregor was given a yellow card by referee Kevin Clancy for what most people would consider to be hardly a foul at all.

Smoke from pre-match fireworks had already caused an odd start to the semi-final, resulting in a temporary delay because of poor vision. But Celtic quickly established control once the game started. Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda scored shortly after Cameron Carter-Vickers’ strike, giving Celtic a commanding 3-0 lead at the interval. Maeda scored his hat-trick and Nicolas Kühn added a goal in the second half, ensuring Celtic’s resounding run to the championship game.

It was difficult to overlook McGregor’s yellow card incident regardless of the result. Clancy’s choice to book the Celtic captain for a minor challenge with only minutes remaining caused a stir and anger. Michael Stewart, a commentator, publicly questioned the call and expressed shock, asserting that it was “never” a yellow card.
McGregor was forced to change his play for the remainder of the game due to the early booking, which is something no team wants for a midfield player with his level of influence. Clancy’s decision essentially restrained McGregor’s ability to play with his typical boldness, despite the fact that his purpose is to break up opposition play and set Celtic’s tempo.

While some may argue that the booking didn’t matter given Celtic’s dominance, many fans feel that’s missing the point. Refereeing decisions like this need scrutiny, especially when made by one of Scotland’s most experienced referees. A questionable booking that limits a team’s captain and midfield lynchpin should not be taken lightly, no matter the final score.