Leo Scullion, one of snooker’s most experienced officials, will hang up the gloves at the conclusion of this evening’s BetVictor Scottish Open final.
The Glaswegian is a former policeman, who first qualified as a snooker referee in 1984. He made his professional debut in 1999 and his first televised game was Stephen Lee’s 5-0 win over Patrick Wallace at the 2001 Scottish Masters.
Scullion’s first major Triple Crown final came in 2012 when Mark Selby defeated Shaun Murphy to win the UK Championship. Just two years later Scullion was forced to take a break from the circuit when he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
That was a battle which he won and two years later he returned to take charge of his home final in Glasgow, as Marco Fu defeated John Higgins to win the 2016 Scottish Open. Today will be Scullion’s fourth Scottish Open final, having been in the middle for the title matches in 2017 and 2020.
The crowning moment of 67-year-old Scullion’s career came in 2019 when he refereed snooker’s biggest match, the World Championship final. Scullion had the best seat in the house as Judd Trump produced one of the all-time great world final performances, demolishing Higgins 18-9.
After a distinguished career in the middle, Scullion will remain a part of the tour as an assesor. However, he felt now was the right time to step away from the match arena.
Scullion said: “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, I just wasn’t sure when would be the right time. I decided with this being a home event in Scotland, this was the moment. 26 years is a long time and I’m starting to feel that maintaining the high standards I like to set is taking more and more concentration. I’m not getting any younger.
“I didn’t think about coming back to snooker in 2014, lets be honest. It was a terrible situation. I got back and I managed to do the first Scottish Open final in 2016 and then the world final in 2019. I’m quite pleased I managed to do that.
“We as the referees always get a great reception at the Crucible, but at the final you need to be there to feel the atmosphere. It is electric. I will miss that kind of thing, but at the end of the day I think this is the right time to finish.“
Thank you for everything Leo!
It was a privilege to meet you in person and to get to know you a bit. Enjoy your retirement, you deserve it.
And … maybe … only maybe, only if you miss your white gloves, I would love to see you at the Crucible again, refereeing the Seniors. 💖💕
Ronnie O'Sullivan 