Exclusive Interview: SFA referee chief John Fleming on Willie Collum and his prodigious path to Euro 2016

Fleming might have quietly taken Collum out of the firing line in February, handing him a few low key championship appointments after high-profile errors in a match between Inverness and Aberdeen, but that in fact was a rare blip on an upward career curve. It hardly seems worth restating that, unlike our nation's football players, Collum is one Scot whose services are actually required at Euro 2016 this month.

Read more: SFA referee chief John Fleming - Don't give up on full-time referees in Scotland

One of only two elite category referees in Scotland - the other is Craig Thomson - Collum heads up a Celtic officiating team for the Euros which includes Bobby Madden, John Beaton, Francis Connor and the Republic of Ireland's Damien McGraith.

While he did not receive a game in the opening tranche of matches, and it is likely that Uefa will try to keep a Scot away from the other home nations, in all likelihood two group stage matches is a minimum.

Fleming expects his star pupil to take it all in his stride, not least because he has a decade of Scottish top flight experience behind him, a total of 110 international appointments (plus 28 as fourth official), and at the start of the season was brushing shoulders with the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez as Barcelona overcame Sevilla 5-4 in a breathless Uefa Super Cup final.

He hasn't had a negative mark put against his name by a Uefa refereeing observer for the last three years. And all this by the tender age of just 37. In refereeing terms, this guy is a rock star.

"I attended the Helenvale training area in the East of Glasgow and so would Willie," recalls Fleming, the SFA's head of refereeing operations. "At that time, people often started refereeing at the age of around 25 to 30 so it was unusual to see someone who was still attending school getting involved. I wouldn't say he made a huge impression on me. But he was always very enthusiastic, always wanted to learn.

"I always look at a referee's international appointments and Willie has 110 over a ten-year period," added Fleming, of a man who, of course, also has a day job in the education sector.

"If any player had received such international recognition we would be singing from the rooftops. It is not by chance, it is down to the hard work he puts in and preparation. He will work easily six days a week at it. He is someone who always wants to better his performances."

While Collum's season has hardly been blemish free - there was also a controversy over two errant penalty awards in a Falkirk v Rangers match in December, and Hearts fans generally don't speak too fondly of him - Fleming feels the official generally had a good campaign.

"Willie has had a good season," he said. "And he is very consistent. I can't think of any referee in the country who hasn't gone through a period where they haven't quite hit the levels they have set for themselves. Craig Thomson, Steven McLean, Kevin Clancy, Bobby Madden, so on and so forth, they all maybe do drop from one period of time, no different to the way a footballer does.

"It is my job to monitor it all but to have a system in place where there are mentors who speak to the referees and go through the games with them," he added. "All I would say is all referees go through dips but the good referees learn from them and become stronger."

In days gone by the referee might have been an amiable figure who dispensed common sense verdicts despite not being up with play, but these days fitness is everything. "His fitness is absolutely first class," said Fleming.

"Everything our referees do fitness wise is recorded, it all comes into my office. And I know that Uefa are extremely happy with Willie Collum's level of fitness. They use him as a role model."

Fleming's work is never done. No fewer than 10,000 words of interpretations have been stripped out of the Laws of the Game, at the SFA's behest, as the rules were confusing and often contradictory. This week he was up at St Andrews, briefing the SFA's candidates for a B coaching license, while there is a constant dialogue with clubs about nuances of interpretation.

As of June 1, the presumption of an automatic red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity has been downgraded to a yellow, as will the necessity for a seriously fouled player to leave the field.

Next on the agenda is a clarification on the bewildering rules relating to handball. If he is lucky, he may even squeeze in time to get himself out to France to watch Scotland's latest unpopular refereeing superstar making the most of his moment of glory.