Gala Fairydean Rovers midfielder Keaghan Jacobs facing betting scam allegation

Keaghan Jacobs is accused of getting himself booked on purpose while playing for Livingston at home to Celtic at the Tony Macaroni Arena in the Scottish Premiership in October 2019.

The South African 35-year-old is charged with acting in a manner whereby he would receive a yellow card for the purpose of enabling or assisting others to cheat at gambling during that 2-0 win for the West Lothian side against their Glaswegian visitors.

He’s alleged to have been in cahoots with former Fairydean defender Conan McDiarmid, with the 40-year-old said to have placed bets and arranged for others to do so on Jacobs being cautioned by referee Willie Collum in breach of the 2005 Gambling Act.

McDiarmid, also formerly with Musselburgh Athletic and Whitehill Welfare, placed those bets “in the knowledge that it had been arranged that Jacobs would act in a manner whereby he would receive a yellow card during the match”, according to prosecutors.

The case against Jacobs, of Edinburgh, and McDiarmid, of Bonnyrigg in Midlothian, was called at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Thursday but neither appeared in person.

Proceedings against Jacobs were continued without plea until later this month but a not-guilty plea was lodged on McDiarmid’s behalf and a trial date fixed for later in the year.

Jacob’s caution, for an illegal challenge on visiting winger Jonny Hayes on 94 minutes, was one of six cards shown by Collum over the course of Celtic’s first league defeat of that season, decided by second-half goals from Scott Robinson and Lyndon Dykes.

The first was a sending-off for Hoops midfielder Ryan Christie for a 25th-minute foul on Robinson and it was followed by yellows for Robinson on 48, his teammate Ricki Lamie on 88 and Celtic’s Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer on 89 and 94 respectively.

Jacobs was with Livingston from 2007 to 2015 and 2017 to 2022, making 252 competitive appearances and scoring 23 goals, and he’s also played for Falkirk, Arbroath and Johannesburg’s Bidvest Wits in his native South Africa before signing for Fairydean last July, going on to play in 31 of the Galashiels club’s 34 Scottish Lowland Football League fixtures last season, scoring four times.

McDiarmid, currently assistant manager at Penicuik Athletic, arrived at Netherdale in Galashiels from Whitehill in July 2018 and moved on to another Midlothian side, Gorebridge’s Arniston Rangers, a year later.