Willie Young

Willie Young is a former Scottish football referee who enjoyed 15 seasons as a Class One Scottish Football Association official. A successful lawyer Willie is an accomplished wit, raconteur and established after dinner speaker.
During this time Willie refereed over 500 Scottish Senior matches, including the Scottish Cup Final, the Scottish League Cup Final, the Bells Challenge Cup Final and the Scottish Women’s FA Cup Final!
Before age defeated him, Willie was on the FIFA list of international referees and officiated in 27 different countries at a total of 71 European and world matches, including as 4th official at the 1999 UEFA Cup Final., Willie was on the FIFA list of international referees and officiated in 27 different countries at a total of 71 European and world matches, including as 4th official at the 1999 UEFA Cup Final.

He was presented with a Bells’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, when he hung up his whistle.

Paulo di Canio of Celtic, once asked him during a game, if he ”wanted to be manager of Rangers?” and Dick Advocaat of Rangers once accused him, during a game, of being ”a Celtic supporter”. These comments tend to suggest that he was fairly impartial.

Willie Young is one of the few referees ever to send off Ally McCoist but it was in the Robert Duvall film ”A Shot At Glory”.

A successful lawyer and former referee, Willie is an accomplished wit, raconteur and established after dinner speaker.
He is in demand for engagements all over the UK. Willie has spoken at numerous business and sporting dinners and at scores of Burns suppers large and small, from Cumnock to Cairo. He has delivered Immortal Memories in places as diverse as Kenya, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Andy Aitken of Stirling Golf Club said after a recent appearance at the club
What better way to end our 150th Anniversary Year than have Mr Willie Young as guest speaker at our Annual Prize Giving Dinner.
Willie was in excellent form and kept everyone in attendance thoroughly entertained for a good forty minutes.
He neither required notes nor indeed the use of smutty language and was an example to speakers on the after dinner circuit.