John Beaton
{{short description|Scottish Referee}}
{{otherpeople}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox football official
| name = John Beaton
| birth_place = Glasgow, United Kingdom
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1982|1|9}}
| years1 = 2001–
| league1 = Scottish Football Association
| role1 = Referee
| years2 = 2009–2013
| role2 = Referee
| years3 =
| internationalyears1 = 2012–
| confederation1 = FIFA listed
| internationalrole1 = Referee
}}
John Beaton is a Scottish football 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.{{cite web |title=SFA Profile |url=http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football_referees.cfm?page=720&startrow=19¤tPage=4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008115203/http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football_referees.cfm?page=2064&start=11 |archive-date=8 October 2012 |access-date=6 September 2011}}
He has refereed at the UEFA U17 Championship Qualifying Tournament in 2009{{cite web | url=http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa_news.cfm?page=714&newsCategoryID=2&newsID=5177 | title=John Beaton and Andy Tait appointed to UEFA | publisher=Scottish Football Association | work=INSIDE FOOTBALL | date=19 October 2009 | access-date=6 September 2011}} and the Scottish Junior Cup Final.{{cite web | url=http://www.motherwelltimes.co.uk/sport/local-sport/cup_final_honour_for_whistler_john_1_280534 | title=Cup final honour for whistler John | publisher=Motherwell Times | date=8 May 2009 | access-date=6 September 2011}} 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.{{cite web | url=http://sport.stv.tv/football/166962-snow-way-through-for-queens-park-team-and-referee/ | title=Snow way through for Queen's Park team and referee | publisher=Scottish Television | work=sport.stv.tv | date=31 March 2010 | access-date=6 September 2011}}
Beaton became a FIFA referee in 2012.FIFA. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070606232736/http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=sco/footballofficials/referees/peoplekind=ref.html "Scotland: Referees"]. Retrieved on 6 June 2013. He appeared as a fourth official in the 2014 World Cup qualifier between Romania and the Netherlands.FIFA. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131022020400/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300183558/report.html "Match Report - Romania - Netherlands 1:4 (1:3)"]. 16 October 2012. Retrieved on 6 June 2013.
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.{{cite web |title=Referee John Beaton 'headbutted' during Saudi tie |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/13213389.referee-john-beaton-headbutted-saudi-tie/ |website=heraldscotland.com |publisher=The Herald (Glasgow) |access-date=22 November 2022 |date=11 May 2015}}
Beaton has attracted media attention with photos surfacing that appeared to show him drinking alcohol in a Rangers pub after a match.{{Cite web |date=2019-01-10 |title=Chris Sutton: If online pub pics are valid, John Beaton's guilty of 'sheer stupidity' |url=https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/17350272.chris-sutton-online-pub-pics-valid-john-beatons-guilty-sheer-stupidity/ |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=Glasgow Times |language=en}}
=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.{{cite web|url=http://www.strath.ac.uk/comms/staff/johnbeaton/ |title=MR John Beaton Communications Officer |publisher=Strathclyde University |work=www.strath.ac.uk |access-date=6 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110064512/http://www.strath.ac.uk/comms/staff/johnbeaton/ |archive-date=10 November 2011 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{UEFA First Category Referees}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, John}}
Category:Scottish football referees
Category:Scottish Football League referees
Category:Scottish Premier League referees
Category:Scottish Professional Football League referees
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/hibernians-paul-mcginn-accuses-john-beaton-of-inept-refereeing-in-cup-final-1639943536000