Jim McCluskey, Stewarton

Highly acclaimed Celtic author Tom Campbell of The Glory and the Dream fame, has a new book coming out soon which delves for its subject matter into the murky depths of Celtic's alleged paranoia with regard to referees, football authority and the media. Lined up are chapters on Stein v RH Davidson (Airdrie), McCann v Farry, Hugh Dallas, Celtic and Scotland and much more besides, including a look at "The Celtic Media" (what that? ed). I can see you're salivating at the prospect already. In the meantime, check out this interview Tom had with Jim McCluskey, reproduced by kind permission of The Celt fanzine.

While I was doing the research for the new book, I noticed that Jim McCluskey was due for retirement as an active referee in the year 2000. Aware that he had been involved in some controversial moments with Celtic during his career, I wrote to him at the SFA to suggest a meeting. The letter was forwarded to him, he accepted the invitation and suggested his office as a suitable venue. I set out the guidelines: I was writing a book about Celtic's "paranoia" and referees featured prominently in the work. I felt that he, as a referee recently retired, could offer some insights into refereeing styles. I mentioned that I much preferred his laissez faire approach to the more authoritarian methods of some of his colleagues.

First impressions were favourable. I arrived at the company of which Mr. McCluskey is a partner and was shown promptly into a board room office. I was offered tea and biscuits and we would be free from interruptions for the two hours set aside for the meeting.

Jim McCluskey looks taller and leaner than he does in his referee's gear on the pitch. He seemed fit and alert, certainly conscious of any nuances in a question. He gives the distinct impression of a no-nonsense, business-like man, but without being brusque or overly assertive in his opinions. His answers were shrewd and not academic, frank but not outrageous in his opinions.

We spoke first about refereeing styles. As a former player (a brief spell as Airdrie's first ever S-form signing) he prefers the game to flow without too much interruption from the referee. He would rather speak quietly to a player to warn him about his conduct or to explain his decisions. He realised that his style was becoming more and more out of step with FIFA directives and SFA policy; however, he stressed that he could not - and would not - criticise other referees whose philosophy was different from his own. I was most impressed with the frankness of his answers to my questions concerning controversial decisions involving Celtic and these incidents are now summarised in chronological order.