Chris Graham given the whistle for his third Celtic game | OneFootball

Chris Graham has been appointed referee for Saturday afternoon’s Scottish Premiership encounter between Celtic and Hibs…

Referee Chris Graham, St Johnstone v Hearts, Scottish Premiership, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 02 November 2024 Photo Alan Rennie Shutterstock

60 yellows and two reds in 15 matches

The 35 year-old whistler has taken charge of 15 matches this season across six different domestic competitions ranging from Scottish League One appointments to top-flight fixtures. During that period, Graham has produced 60 yellow cards and had two sending-off offences.

Graham’s most recent match as referee was Monday night’s televised Scottish Cup 3rd round clash between Lowland League side East Kilbride who were defeated 3-1 by Championship frontrunners Falkirk at K-Park, before the fourth round draw took place.

Saturday’s man in the middle has only taken charge of two Celtic games in his refereeing career prior to his big appointment this weekend.

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Referee Chris Graham looks on as Kyogo scores. Celtic v Buckie Thistle. Scottish Cup match at Celtic Park on January 21, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Graham’s only game in charge at Celtic Park was against Buckie Thistle

Graham’s debut as whistler at Paradise came in Brendan Rodgers side’s opening home game of 2024 where Celtic comprehensively dispatched Highland League part-timers Buckie Thistle 5-0 in the Scottish Cup 4th round.

At the beginning of this campaign, Chris Graham was in charge of Celtic’s 3-0 victory over St Mirren in Paisley courtesy of excellent finishes from Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Alistair Johnston.

READ THIS…Celtic received £2.2m more for Mikey Johnston than the Rangers got for these 11 players

Referee Chris Graham shows a yellow card. St Mirren v Celtic, August 2024. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Celtic extended lead to seven points with midweek win at Pittodrie

Meanwhile, the Hoops went seven clear at the top of the table on Wednesday evening with a hard-fought 1-0 win in extreme winter conditions versus Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Celtic’s opposition this Saturday have had an upturn in results in their last two Premiership matches following a disastrous start to the season. A pulsating 3-3 draw with Aberdeen at Easter Road was followed by an impressive 3-0 victory at Fir Park against Motherwell last Saturday.

Indeed, that was Hibs’ first three points in the league since 14 September where they comfortably eased off St Johnstone 2-0 in the capital.

Scottish FA confirmed appointments

The Scottish FA has confirmed that alongside referee Chris Graham on-field at Celtic Park tomorrow will be AR1 Dougie Potter and AR2 Steven Traynor. Manning VAR duties at Clydesdale House will be Euan Anderson, and supporting him is Alan Mulvanny who has been appointed to the role as AVAR.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers embraces Ross County manager Don Cowie during theScottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Ross County FC at Celtic Park on November 30, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Kick-off for Celtic versus Hibs is a traditional 3:00pm, and will be shown live to subscribers based outside Britain and Ireland on Celtic TV. There will be a 60,000 crowd at Celtic Park as Brendan Rodgers looks to maintain the momentum towards 4IAR ahead of huge games in Zagreb on Tuesday evening and at Hampden a week on Sunday in the Premier Sports League Cup final against theRangers.

Brendan will be speaking to the media from Lennowtown at lunchtime and we’ll report on that later today.

Conor Spence

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