John Beaton


John William Beaton is a FIFA referee and currently a referee in the SPFL.

Career

Football

Beaton became a referee in 2001 and was admitted to the SFA senior list in 2005 before becoming a Category 1 referee in 2009.
He has refereed at the UEFA U17 Championship Qualifying Tournament in 2009 and the Scottish Junior Cup Final. He refereed two games at UEFA u19 Elite Round in Serbia in May 2012. His first Europa League match appointment is 5 July 2012 Elsborg v Floriana.
In March 2010 he was stuck in snow gates overnight on the A9 in Scotland after refereeing an Elgin City match, along with the Queen's Park team.
Beaton became a FIFA referee in 2012. He appeared as a fourth official in the 2014 World Cup qualifier between Romania and the Netherlands.

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.

Personal life

He is cousin of fellow referee Steven Nicholls.