Steve Conroy criticises Craig McLeish's remarks about referee Sean Murdoch

Former Grade One official Steve Conroy has described St Mirren manager Craig McLeish’s comments regarding referee Sean Murdoch as “disgusting”.

The retired Premiership referee believes that SFA officials made a mistake by appointing the 39-year-old to oversee one of his former clubs so early in his refereeing career.

Murdoch faced criticism from Saints boss McLeish following Dunfermline’s 1-0 victory in the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday, where two decisions particularly irked the manager. The Buddies were unhappy with a disallowed goal from Samuel Ramos 23 minutes into the match and a late penalty that allowed Pars to progress to the last 16 of the Premier Sports Cup.

During a post-match interview broadcast live, McLeish questioned Murdoch’s integrity by asking, “who was he a goalkeeper for?” Conroy believes such remarks were “totally uncalled for”.

Murdoch, who retired from playing seven years ago, has been officiating SPFL matches since January 2024. While Conroy acknowledges that it is inevitable for Murdoch to referee one of his former clubs eventually, he argues that SFA officials should have realised it was too soon in his career for such an appointment.

Conroy, who co-hosts The Ref’s View podcast with Des Roache, stated to Record Sport: “I’m surprised that a football colleague even dared to make any insinuation into Sean’s integrity by asking what team he was a goalkeeper for. That was disgusting. That was totally uncalled for. And we'll use the word disgusting. If people are getting four game bans for using the word disgusting, I think it was merited in this case.”

He added, “Listen, Sean’s going to get Dunfermline games at some point - we’re a wee country, so he's going to come across it. And I have absolutely no doubt that Sean will be able to do a Dunfermline game the same as he'll be able to do a Rangers game or do an Annan Athletic game. No doubt at all. My only, only caveat with that is that he's really not that experienced at reffing yet.”

Conroy continued, “He’s done hundreds of games of football but he's still learning his trade as a ref, so why put him in that position quite so soon in his journey when he's going to have plenty of time to do Dunfermline games again later when he's more dyed in the wool when he starts getting Premiership games. So why put him through it just now? I did feel a bit for him because I don't think that he needed to be put in that position just now.”

He also commented on the broader issue of refereeing, stating, “It’s the same as people saying, 'oh, if you're a Celtic or you're a Rangers supporter you can't do those games'. We don't have enough people refereeing unfortunately. And again, I've got absolutely no doubt that Sean’s as professional and as conscientious as any of us are at our work. So I don't think it would make the blindest bit of difference to him if he was refereeing Dunfermline or refereeing Celtic.”

After the match, McLeish was asked if he had questioned the impartiality of the 39-year-old and he clarified, “No, you can’t do that. That was just a tongue in cheek comment, nothing towards his preferences. He’s a professional doing his job, he’s made the decision, we have to live with it.” Conroy concluded that there would be no way for Murdoch to request a different match once assigned, as doing so would jeopardise his aspirations of becoming a top-level referee. He remarked, “Knowing the SFA, if you ask to get switched once, you'll not get another game. That's not how they play it. They’d be saying, you do the games I assign you to. End of discussion.” Murdoch is among the few former players who have transitioned to officiating on a professional level.

Source: Daily Record