Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2026
I should begin by declaring an interest as a match official for the Scottish Football Association.
I have to say that I do not enjoy every day in the Parliament, and sometimes I make that obvious, but today has been one of the good days. I started off at the Education, Children and Young People Committee with Mr Adam, where I was able to speak about milking cows, and I am ending the day with a debate from Mr Adam about football, which is another interest of mine.
I thought that I might be speaking later on in the debate, Deputy Presiding Officer—I was going to say that it is a shame that we have such long debates in the chamber about football and no one mentions refereeing. However, you called me early, so I can put match officials right at the top of the debate, because I doubt that many other members will mention them, although we have had a passing reference to VAR.
For some people who love football as our national game, and who may have an interest in clubs but want to be involved in football, refereeing is a route for them. It has brought me great enjoyment—I continue to enjoy football—and more and more people are going down that route. I am thankful for that, because referees—love us or loathe us—are an integral part of the game, and refereeing is now seen as an opportunity for many people to get involved, to get fit and stay fit and to get to an extremely high level in the game, both domestic and international.