Nick Walsh (referee)
Refereeing career
Walsh's first Scottish Professional Football League game as a referee came at the beginning of the Scottish League Two campaign, when he oversaw Clyde against Queen's Park.
On 22 October 2022, Walsh refereed the second Scottish Premiership match with the video assistant referee (VAR), which saw Celtic beat Hearts 4–3.
Walsh was selected as the referee for the 2024 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers. During the match Walsh disallowed a goal scored by Rangers for an apparent infringement on the Celtic goalkeeper. The decision was criticised by Rangers manager Clement stating "its a really big call to disallow the goal when Celtic players are grabbing and pulling my players".
Walsh was selected as the referee for the Europa League match between Ajax and Qarabag in October 2024. Walsh was heavily criticised after the match for sending off two Qarabag players. Ajax went on to win the match by 3 goals to nil. Qarabag manager Gurban Gurbanov stated "I found some of the referee’s choices very questionable".
Following a review into refereeing decisions made in November 2024, it was found that Nick Walsh was wrong not to send off Celtic player Hatate during a match against Kilmarnock for a dangerous challenge.
Walsh was criticised by Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes after a Scottish Cup match between Celtic and Kilmarnock in January 2025. Celtic were awarded a freekick which they subsequently scored from with McInnes stating after the match "It's actually a free kick to us, Not even that, to not even give the free kick, the right decision, to us, they [Celtic] take it 20 yards from where the offence was, and they're way out the other side before we get a chance to settle".
Walsh refereed the Europa League match between Union Saint-Gilloise and Braga in January 2025. During the match Walsh sent off 4 players and showed a total of 12 yellow cards.
In January 2025 during a Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Dundee United Walsh was heavily criticised for sending off Rangers player Mohammed Diomande. The VAR referee asked Walsh to review his decision at the pitch side monitor but Walsh decided not to change his mind. Following the match several commentators criticised the decision with Ally McCoist describing it as '"one of the worst decisions he's ever seen'". Premier sports commentators Allan Hutton and Michael Stewart described it as '"laughable"' and '"embarrassing'". Rangers appealed the decision and it was ultimately upheld by the review panel with the red card for violent conduct revoked.
References
- ^ "Nick Walsh - Referee - Latest game assignments, game history and yellow/red card details - Sports Mole". Sports Mole. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ^ "Clyde 3 – 0 Queen's Park". Scottish Professional Football League. 24 August 2013. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ Hendry, Mark (23 October 2022). "Greg Taylor on what ref Nick Walsh 'intimated' to Celtic over handball snub". Football Scotland. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ "Rangers boss fumes at VAR". The Express.
- ^ "'Why Are We Still Playing?' – Qarabag Coach Questions Refereeing Decisions After Ajax Defeat".
- ^ "Hatate should have been sent off at Kilmarnock, says review panel". BBC Sport.
- ^ "McInnes hits out at decision". Glasgow Times.
- ^ "Union Saint-Gilloise 2 Braga 1". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Nick Walsh". The Daily Record.
- ^ "Rangers win Diomande appeal - watch the incident". BBC Sport.
External links
- Nick Walsh Referee Statistics Soccerbase
UEFA First Category referees (as of 1 January 2025) | |
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