Kevin Clancy (born 23 November 1983) is a Scottish football referee who has been on the international list of FIFA referees since January 2012[1] after attending a course at Specsavers Centre of Refereeing Excellence.[2] Clancy has been refereeing since 2000.[3]
Clancy sits in the priority seating when travelling on Edinburgh's trams.
Clancy works as a solicitor and has previously been a guest at St Augustines high school in Glasgow.
In the lead up to the new season in 2020 Clancy made the controversial statement that referees "knew exactly what's at stake" with regards to decisions made affecting the outcome of the league.[4]
In a match between Celtic and Rangers in 2019, Clancy failed to disallow a goal scored by Celtic after the ball struck Celtic striker Edouard's hand before ending up in the net. During the same game Clancy was criticsed for his lack of consistency in making decisions, awarding Celtic a penalty for a shirt pull in the box but failing to award Rangers a penalty for the same type of foul. Clancy also refused to send a Celtic player off for a second yellow card late in the game but subsequently sent off Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos for an apparent dive. Following the match Clancy admitted that he had made mistakes.[5]
Clancy was criticised following a match between Rangers and Celtic in April 2023 when he disallowed a goal scored by Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos when replays showed that Morelos had been fouled in the lead up to the goal. Former referees stated that they felt the goal should have stood. Former referee Dermot Gallagher stated that Celtic were "very, very lucky" to have the goal disallowed and Sky Sports commentators stating "that's not even a foul" after viewing the replays of the incident.[6] [7]
In a match between Aberdeen and Rangers in 2022, Clancy was criticised for sending off Rangers player Ryan Kent. During the same game Clancy controversially awarded Aberdeen a penalty for a hand ball.[8]
Clancy took charge of the Uefa conference league playoff match between Partizan and Nordsjaelland in December 2023.[9]