Sam Nicholson has broken his silence on the controversial penalty decision at Fir Park, insisting categorically that the ball never made contact with his hand.
The spot kick was awarded deep into stoppage time after referee John Beaton reviewed the incident on the advice of Andrew Dallas, ruling that Nicholson had handled the ball.
Most observers believed Nicholson had headed the ball clear of the penalty area, making the decision one of the most debated calls of the season.
Kelechi Iheanacho converted the penalty to keep Celtic’s title hopes alive, and Martin O’Neill’s side went on to pip Hearts on the final day with a 3-1 win at Parkhead, scoring the decisive goal three minutes from time.
Nicholson, a boyhood Jambo and former Tynecastle winger, revealed that even Celtic players approached him after the game to express their disbelief at the ruling.
“A couple of the Celtic boys came over and went, ‘That’s crazy.’ I went, ‘Oh, thanks!’,” Nicholson said, speaking to the Terrace.
He explained that he was initially not able to speak freely on the matter, having been advised against commenting publicly due to the scale of the reaction it generated.
“At the time, I wanted to speak out because I was getting questions. Because of the reaction, I was advised not to comment too much, and I obviously didn’t want to get myself in trouble,” he said.
Nicholson added that his confusion at the time stemmed from believing he had actually won a free kick for jumping first in the aerial challenge before the penalty was awarded.
“I was thinking it was a foul to us, and I thought I had bought us some time to be honest,” he said, explaining his initial reaction on the pitch.
When Beaton indicated he was checking for handball, Nicholson said he felt confident he had nothing to worry about, only to be stunned when the penalty was given.
“When the ref said at first he was checking for a handball, I was like, ‘Oh, right, I never handballed it, so it’s fine.’ Then when it was given, I was obviously confused,” he said.
Nicholson was also critical of the speed with which Beaton completed his review before pointing to the spot, suggesting there was insufficient time given to assess the incident properly.
He pointed to the findings of the KMI panel, which subsequently concluded the decision should not have been a penalty, as further vindication of his position.
“The only person that could actually tell everyone what happened is me. The KMI panel have now said that it shouldn’t have been a penalty anyway,” Nicholson said.
He acknowledged that VAR has genuine strengths but argued the technology failed in this particular situation due to a lack of available camera angles to properly review the incident.
“VAR has its strengths, but in that situation, that was definitely its weakness, because it never had other angles,” he said.
Nicholson also addressed the news that referee John Beaton’s home address had been leaked following the decision, making clear he had no sympathy for that kind of response.
“I heard about what happened with John Beaton’s address being leaked and all that though, and I hate seeing stuff like that. I don’t think anyone deserves stuff like that,” he said.
Despite his strong feelings about the decision, Nicholson was careful to acknowledge that referees make mistakes and stopped short of launching a broader attack on officiating standards.
“It is not all negative, but that decision was wrong because I didn’t handball it,” he said, closing the matter with characteristic directness.
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