Former Grade One referee Steve Conroy has called St Mirren manager Craig McLeish's dig at referee Sean Murdoch "disgusting". However, the retired Premiership whistler believes SFA chiefs made a mistake by putting the 39-year-old in charge of one of his former clubs so early in his refereeing career.
Murdoch made two decisions that upset Saints boss McLeish during Dunfermline's 1-0 Premier Sports Cup win on Sunday. The Buddies were unhappy with a Samuel Ramos goal disallowed after 23 minutes and a late penalty that sent the Pars into the last 16.
McLeish's comments spark controversy
As the decisions were debated in a post-match TV interview, McLeish twice asked "who was he a goalkeeper for?". Conroy said these remarks were "totally uncalled for".
Murdoch, a former goalkeeper for Dunfermline, Hamilton and Hibernian, retired seven years ago to take up refereeing and has been officiating SPFL matches since January 2024.
Conroy, who hosts The Ref's View podcast with Des Roache, told 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."
He added: "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."
Timing questioned
Conroy acknowledged that Murdoch will inevitably referee Dunfermline at some point, given Scotland's size, but argued the SFA should have waited until he was more experienced. "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. My only, only caveat with that is that he's really not that experienced at reffing yet."
After the match, McLeish was asked whether he questioned Murdoch's impartiality and replied: "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 believes Murdoch could not have asked for a different assignment without jeopardising his refereeing prospects: "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 a rare group of former players who have taken up professional refereeing. Conroy hopes more will follow, adding: "Aye. The same as I would like to see lots more people become refs. But absolutely. You know, one of our main accusations is that we've never played the game. And our counter-claim is that you don't know the laws. So if you've got somebody that can cover both bases, well and good."
