Who is the referee for St Mirren v Rangers? Official who gave 'laughable' red card confirmed plus VAR details
Who is the referee for St Mirren v Rangers on Sunday?
Rangers are back in domestic action this weekend as they face St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership at the SMiSA Stadium on Sunday.
Russell Martin’s side enter the game desperate for a positive result after back-to-back draws against Motherwell and Dundee cemented their worst start to a league season since 1989, while a 3-1 defeat by Club Brugge in the Champions League playoffs did little to lift the mood at Ibrox in midweek.
The Gers will make the short journey to Paisley without Nasser Djiga (suspension) and long-term injury victim Dujon Sterling (Achilles), though Emmanuel Fernandez, Jayden Meghoma, and Mikey Moore could make their league debuts for the club. Cyriel Dessers is a doubt with a knee problem.
As for St Mirren, head coach Stephen Robinson is sweating on the fitness of Mikael Mandron and Roland Idowu, who are both huge doubts for the clash. Conor McMenamin and Liam Donnelly are both ruled out for the visit of Rangers with injury.
Ahead of the game, we look at who the Scottish FA has chosen as the match officials for Sunday’s game at the SMiSA Stadium:
Who is the referee for St Mirren v Rangers?
The man in the middle for the game will be Nick Walsh, who has taken charge of 109 Scottish Premiership games in his career, issuing a total of 401 yellow cards (an average of 3.68 per game) and 27 red cards (0.25 per game). He has taken charge of two games so far this season, handing out a total of eight yellow cards (an average of 4.00 per game), but no red cards.
The last time Walsh refereed a Rangers game was back in May, when he took charge of the 2-2 draw against Hibs on the final day Scottish Premiership clash of the season. During the game, Rangers players were left incensed when they looked to have scored in the 15th minute when Nicolas Raskin’s effort appeared to have crossed the line, only for Hibs to immediately score a goal at the other end through Kieran Bowie after Walsh allowed play to continue. However, this decision was largely down to VAR official Andrew Dallas ruling there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field decision. The Scottish FA's Key Match Incident (KMI) Review Panel later evaluated the incident and ruled, by a 4-1 majority, that Raskin’s goal should have been awarded.
Walsh was involved in a controversial decision just months earlier involving Gers midfielder Mohamed Diomande, when he sent the Ivorian off in a game against Dundee United at Tannadice. Issuing the red card in stoppage time for an alleged swing at Dundee United's Kevin Holt, the decision came after a VAR review, where Walsh was advised to re-evaluate the incident but stuck with his initial call. Former Ibrox favourite and Sky Sports pundit Ally McCoist called it "one of the worst decisions I have ever seen," while ex-referee like Dermot Gallagher labelled it "laughable.” The club opted to appeal the decision, and it was later overturned by tribunal.
St Mirren v Rangers VAR and match officials
Clancy will be assisted by Dougie Potter and David Dunne as assistant referees. Gavin Duncann is on VAR duties, and he will be assisted by Calum Scott.
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