John Beaton
Scottish Referee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Beaton is a Scottish football referee.
Glasgow, United Kingdom
| Born |
9 January 1982 Glasgow, United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2001– | Scottish Football Association | Referee | |
| 2009–2013 | SFL / SPL | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2012– | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Career
Football
John Beaton became a referee in 2001 and was admitted to the SFA senior list in 2005 before becoming a Category 1 referee in 2009.[1]
He has refereed at the UEFA U17 Championship Qualifying Tournament in 2009[2] and the Scottish Junior Cup Final.[3] He refereed two games at UEFA u19 Elite Round in Serbia in May 2012. His first Europa League match appointment was 5 July 2012 Elsborg v Floriana.
In March 2010, he was stuck overnight, along with the Queen's Park team, in snow gates overnight on the A9 in Scotland after he refereed an Elgin City match.[4]
Beaton became a FIFA referee in 2012.[5] He appeared as a fourth official in the 2014 World Cup qualifier between Romania and the Netherlands.[6]
In May 2015, Beaton refereed the Riyadh derby between Al Hilal and Al Nassr in the Saudi Professional League, where Salem Al-Dawsari motioned to head-butt him after a decision did not go his way.[7]
Beaton has attracted media attention with photos surfacing that appeared to show him drinking alcohol in a Rangers pub after a match.[8]
Non football
Outside of football, Beaton started his career as a journalist before becoming communications officer for Strathclyde Police. He is currently media relations manager at ScotRail Alliance, having previously been a communications officer for the University of Strathclyde.[9]