Why SFA Head of Referees Willie Collum met with Celtic and SPFL club officials this week

As the new season approaches its big kick-off, most of the headlines have been dominated by Celtic’s search for new signings.

With Celtic making a move for Adam Idah yesterday afternoon, hopes are high amongst the Hoops support that the club can make the Republic of Ireland international a permanent Celt for next season.

However, transfer talk is not the only preparation Celtic are making as they head into the new season after club officials met with the new SFA Head of Referees, Willie Collum, this week.

VAR and referees discussed with Celtic officials

Willie Collum was appointed to the high-profile SFA role after former Head of Referees, Crawford Allan, resigned from the post last season.

And with the new season set to kick off, Collum has met with managers and officials from the country’s top clubs to try and build bridges after relations became strained between the association’s officials since the introduction of VAR.

Amongst discussions, Collum spoke about various issues in the game ranging from the use of VAR to the standard of refereeing.

It’s a welcome step by the new Head of Referees to try and hopefully, the issues surrounding the refereeing technology can be ironed out before the new season gets underway.

The SFA look like they are being active in trying to mend relations and getting players’ opinions on VAR after the former Celtic striker, Craig Beattie, was appointed as a player liaison between the clubs and the national association.

The SFA has also created a new VAR Manager role in which the person responsible will ‘manage and implement’ the use of VAR and report directly to Collum.

The national association hopes to have that person in place for the hybrid role before the new season begins as the applications will close on the 15th of July. [SFA]