| Don Robertson | |
| Full Name: | Donald Robertson |
| Birth Date: | 1 January 1987 |
| Birth Place: | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Years1: | 2014– |
| League1: | SPFL |
| Role1: | Referee |
| Internationalyears1: | 2017– |
| Confederation1: | FIFA listed |
| Internationalrole1: | Referee |
Donald Robertson (born 1 January 1987) is a Scottish football referee. He began refereeing in 2011,[1] and has been a FIFA referee since 2017.[2] Before his refereeing career, Robertson was a youth player with Partick Thistle (where his brother Michael also had a short spell), Queen's Park and St. Mirren.[3]
Robertson first began refereeing in 2011. Since then (as of June 2020), he has made 268 refereeing appearances, given 790 yellow cards and 51 red cards.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers openly criticised Robertson after a match in 2017 when Robertson awarded a penalty against Celtic, stating that "if he makes too many of them (mistakes) he is not going to be a top class referee".[4]
Robertson was chosen to referee the first Qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League in 2019. The game took place on 9 July 2019 in Tallinn, Estonia between local side Nõmme Kalju FC and KF Shkëndija of North Macedonia; Shkëndija won 0–1.
In June 2023 Robertson refereed the Euro 2024 qualification match between Iceland and Slovakia.
In July 2023, Robertson refereed the Uefa Champions League Match between Hamrun Spar and Macabi Haifa. The same month Robertson also refereed the Europa Conference League match between Apoel Nicosia and Vojvodina.
In August and September 2023, Robertson refereed the Europa Conference League matches between Astana and Partizan, and Zrinjski Mostar and AZ Alkmaar.
In a match between Rangers and Celtic in 2023, Robertson disallowed a goal scored by Rangers striker Kemar Roofe for an apparent infringement in the lead up to the goal, Celtic went on to win the match. The decision was criticised after the match.[5]
In a match between Rangers and Aberdeen in 2024 Robertson sent off Rangers player Dujon Sterling late in the game despite the fact that Robertson was asked to review his decision by VAR. The decision was criticised after the game due to Robertsons lack of consistency.[6] A subsequent independent VAR review of decisions taken during the 2023-24 season decided that Robertson's decision to send off Sterling was incorrect, and the correct decision should have been a yellow card.[7]
In a match between Hearts and Celtic in March 2023 Robertson awarded both Hearts and Celtic penalties in the game. A subsequent independent VAR review of decisions taken during the 2023-24 season decided that both penalties were incorrectly awarded.[8]
In the 2024 Scottish Cup Semi Final between Celtic and Aberdeen, Robertson changed his decision to award Aberdeen a late penalty kick but instead awarded Celtic a free kick. The decision, which effectively meant Celtic won the game, was criticised after the match.[9]
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes revealed that Robertson apologised to him at half time in a match against Celtic for not stopping the game for a foul in the lead up to Celtics opening goal.[10]
In the final league match of the 2023-24 season, Robertson decided not to award Rangers a penalty against Hearts. The decision was criticised after the game with former referee Dermot Gallagher stating "I thought it was a foul and I was surprised this wasn’t referred [for a pitchside review]".[11]