Kenny Hope refereed his first senior match in 1974 and officiated in his first international, a friendly between Iceland and West Germany, five years later. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics he refereed in one game, and was linesman in two others. All three were group games. Hope refereed just one Scottish FA Cup final, the match between St. Mirren and Dundee United in 1987. He was also in charge of the inaugural Scottish Challenge Cup final in the 1990/91 season between Dundee and Ayr United. Six months later he retired, after 17 years as a Class 1 referee, and was appointed to the Scottish Football Association (SFA) referee supervisors’ committee, as supervisor for the Glasgow Referees’ Association. He later became a SFA referee observer until his retirement in 2011.