William Collum famous as Willie Collum is a Scottish football referee and R.E teacher who currently serves as a referee of Scottish Football Association. He started his refereeing career with Scottish Football League in 2000.
Willie Collum was born on 18th January 1979, in Glasgow, Scotland. His birth sign is Capricorn. Regarding his nationality, the professional referee is a Scottish and he is of white ethnicity.
Collum began his referee career professionally in the year 2000 with Scottish Football Association being appointed to Scottish Football League. In November 2004, he officiated his first Scottish Football League match.
In April 2006, Collum officiated his first Scottish Premier League and took charge of his first UEFA Champions League match, overseeing FC Copenhagen’s 2-0 win away at Panathinaikos in September 2010. Besides this, he has also umpired several prominent international matches and UEFA Europa League matches.
On 24th October 2010, Collum made his Old Firm debut at Celtic Park. On 19th December 2011, he was appointed to referee the second Old Fim derby of the season at Celtic Park. After overseeing the 2012 Scottish League Cup Final, Collum was appointed to referee the 2013 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Hibernian.
Collum was assigned by UEFA to referee the UEFA EURO 2016, as Scotland’s representative, however, he was dismissed due to the match in the schedule and was appointed to referee the 3 Scottish Premier League games.
After Collum’s first Old Firm match, he received death threats against him and his family due to his some of the decision during the game came under scrutiny from Celtic, and which were described as having a “sectarian undertone”.
Collum began his teaching career in the year 2000, at St Ambrose High School in Coatbridge. He then served as the principal teacher of the Religious Education department at Cardinal Newman High School. In August 2011, he served only as principal for the reason that he had to concentrate more on his referee career.
Collum then joined St Aidan’s High School as R.E teacher. In August 2012, he returned to Cardinal Newman High School.
Thirty-eight years old referee Collum is married to his wife Jenny and has four young daughters. He is living a comfortable life unless a fact that his family (wife and daughter) also receive the death threats quite often. Otherwise, the couple is happy with their marriage and are supportive to each other.
Willie Collum has earned his wealth widely through his professional career as referee and teacher. As of 2017, he has an estimated net worth around $2 million. Apart from football, as a teacher, he has added some value to his net worth. He has earned a healthy amount in refereeing the top level games.
With a tremendous net worth, Willie Collum is living a lavish and luxurious lifestyle.
