Fans of Premier League clubs all had their moments last season when they had cause to moan about VAR.
Newcastle United had their fair share of dodgy VAR calls, not all of which were detrimental, we did benefit a few times, too. One that sticks out in the brain is of course the handball awarded against Tino Livramento in the Champions League clash with PSG which saw the Magpies knocked out of the competition.
The lack of transparency around VAR has long been a bone of contention among fans and pundits, and now the Premier League are stepping up efforts to do something about it.
One thing they've done as of today is launch a new account on X which will detail, in almost-real-time, what's going on at Stockley Park - VAR HQ.
The Premier League are bringing in the semi-automated offside system at some point this season, a technology we saw working very well at Euro 2024, but it won't be available from the start of the season for whatever reason.
So this new account will have to do for now. The introduction to the new account reads as follows:
"Welcome to the Premier League Match Centre X account. This page will provide live updates from Stockley Park including information directly from the VAR Hub. We will issue near-live updates on operational matters from all matches – including clarification on refereeing and VAR."
"Refereeing and VAR clarifications will be based on the factual information from the VAR Hub and the Premier League Match Centre. Where necessary, additional information on Laws of the Game and VAR process from PGMOL experts will be communicated.
"This account is open for all supporters to follow with the aim of increasing transparency around VAR and officiating in the Premier League."
More information can be found on their website.
We can already see this account getting a tonne of abuse from angry supporters so our thoughts are with the account's admin at this difficult time.
We'll see at the weekend how effective or useless it is. We will be keeping an eye on it for sure.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -8 | 18 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
19 |
Wolves
|
15 | -15 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |