This soap opera had a few twists along the way
Scottish football can be like a soap opera at the best of times. But the James Keatings affair has had all the hallmarks of a holiday special.
There was the baffling decision by referee Greg Aitken to send off the Inverness Caley Thistle striker in the first place.
Having already cautioned him in the Challenge Cup semi-final against Rangers last month, he showed him a second yellow card for simulation.
That despite the fact video footage showed clear contact from young Light Blues midfielder Ciaran Dickson.
Given the footage, it was then bewildering for the SFA appeals tribunal to throw out the appeal.
It left Caley Thistle outraged and Keatings dismayed at the prospect of missing a Cup Final, which will be against Raith Rovers at McDiarmid Park on March 28th.
Support for the 28-yearold poured in from all over the football world with social media flooded with condemnation.
Gary Lineker waded in totherowtoaddatouch of celebrity to the mix with the Match of the Day frontman describing the decision as “an injustice.”
Less publicly, the Caley Jags were themselves taking steps to be seen whatcouldbedonewith the input of one of the Scottish game’s bestknown and most colourful characters.
It has emerged they consulted with Donald Findlay, the current Cowdenbeath chairman and former Rangers vice chairman.
In his day job, Findlay is, of course, an advocate and Queen’s Counsel who has been involved in some of Scotland’s most highprofile legal cases.
Caley Thistle would, it is understood, have been prepared to pursue the matter in the courts themselves if it had come to that.
As it turned out, that was not necessary.
That’s because in what was the most stunning plot development of the whole tale, the SFA threw out the original decision.
It was, they explained, “invalid” because one of the panel members had not considered all available evidence. In layman’s terms, had not watched the video footage.
The services of the individual, who was left anonymous, would not be required in future.
That left Keatings, who was later to memorably describe the experience as having been a rollercoaster, free to appeal again.
He did so and – to the surprise of no one – the reconvened panel revoked theban.
With the administration out of the way, Inverness Caley Thistle and their striker were able to celebrate what the news boiled down to in football terms.
Namely, that James Keatings will be able to play in the Challenge Cup Final after all.
And given the dramatic events up until now, there would be few who would bet against the forward adding the perfect postscript to the tale by netting the winner in Perth.