Douglas "Dougie" McDonald (born 8 October 1965)[1] was a Scottish football Category I referee from 1997 until his retirement in 2010.
McDonald refereed two Scottish Cup Finals, the 2006 match between Hearts and Gretna, and the 2010 match between Dundee United and Ross County. He also took charge of two League Cup Finals; the 2007 Final between Hibernian and Kilmarnock, and the 2009 Final between Celtic and Rangers. McDonald refereed over 200 Scottish Premier League games, including five Old Firm matches.
McDonald was warned by the Scottish Football Association for failing to clearly explain a decision in the match played between Dundee United and Celtic in October 2010.[2] McDonald had initially awarded Celtic a penalty kick but changed his decision after consulting with the assistant referee, Steven Craven.[2] After the match, McDonald claimed that the change of decision had been heavily influenced by Craven, but in fact McDonald had realised his own error immediately and had only confirmed this with Craven.[2]
Subsequent to the match, Craven resigned as an official due to the way this process had been handled.[2] McDonald then admitted lying to the SFA representative and Celtic manager Neil Lennon about why the decision had been changed, but claimed that this lie had been suggested by Craven.[3] Some players, managers and referees suggested McDonald should also resign, but he was allowed to continue.[4] The fallout over the incident eventually led to the first ever Scottish football referee strike, on 27 November 2010.[5] McDonald retired with immediate effect the next day.[5][6]
McDonald is a transport planner by profession. He was promoted in 2007 to the position of Divisional Director by his employer, MVA Consultancy.[7]