Chasing VAR out of Scotland

[HibsFan]

2 hours ago, Busta Nut said:

Someone should type out a template for those too lazy, then that can be emailed off. 

We now have that ChatGPT for this exact purpose, when I’ve got some free time I’ll get a few templates fired up.

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

3 hours ago, Leith Green said:

Sadly I am in the "will do none of the above" category.

While I think VAR in its current iteration is awful and makes the experience for fans dreadful, I dont believe the authorities have any inclination to do anything about it, nor will they take much account of what fans say.

 

Same. I'll just be going a lot less as I don't enjoy it the same. 

The evidence that backs up exactly what you've said as well is they don't generally give a shit about anything else that detracts from the fans experience so why would VAR be any different. Especially when it's something the authorities actively want. 

[Davis Love III]

This is an email that I wrote into St Johnstone a month ago. It was passed on by the SLO to the CEO and Board of Directors. I haven't heard anything back since - but here's a look for anyone who is interested. Hopefully it covers enough general points that will resonate with all supporters.

---------------------

When the horrors of the global pandemic struck four years ago, many feared for the immediate future of Scottish football and its professional clubs that were instantly faced with an existential crisis during the harsh reality of lockdown. 

Gratefully, our game and its beloved institutions survived that dark time, but we are in the midst of a far subtler emergency that I believe has the potential to be destructive to St Johnstone FC and other equivalent sides across the country.

The devastating impact of COVID was unavoidable, but the introduction of VAR was entirely self-inflicted and will surely prove to be more damaging in the long-term.

Supporters rallied around their clubs during the pandemic, buying season tickets without any hope of actually using them. Fans then made their way back into grounds with renewed enthusiasm once restrictions were lifted.

Just last year, SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster said, when championing crowds per-capita: "Attendances in Scotland have significantly outperformed other countries of a similar size for some time now, and the financial importance of gate receipts to our clubs was starkly underscored during the pandemic, when matches were played behind closed doors."

He wasn't wrong. But that progress will be irretrievably lost once those very same supporters who backed their clubs to the hilt turn their back on a game that no longer resembles the one they grew to love in the first place.

And it didn't have to be this way. 

Scottish football injected itself with poison in 2022 when 41 of 42 SPFL clubs voted for the introduction of VAR. This was despite seeing the years of controversy that have beset far larger and better-funded leagues and competitions.

But clearly, the SFA desired it to ensure their referees would remain eligible to officiate in UEFA and FIFA tournaments alongside a keenness to appear to be in vogue with other major national associations across Europe. 

And the clubs must have rather fancied it too - hence a willingness to both vote for and agree to fund the operation of a system that has ripped the soul from the game.

This could have been avoided - had those same clubs asked supporters for their thoughts in the first place.

But, true to form, fans were ignored and excluded from the conversation. Who asked for this? Did any regulars in the stands at McDiarmid Park cry out for the introduction of VAR? We were never once consulted - and it was the same case at every other club across the league. Perhaps because they didn't want to hear the likely answer.

During the second-leg of the playoff final against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, two years ago, when Premiership status was in the balance, I rationalised the prospect of relegation to a friend by declaring that at least we wouldn't have VAR in the Championship.

Seeing VAR play out on TV for years was enough evidence for me that it would be disastrous in Scotland - but experiencing it inside grounds has only reinforced how much of a disease this is for football as a spectator-sport.

Why does it exist? We're told that it improves decision-making and cuts out obvious refereeing errors from the game. 

And maybe it does - to an extent. The SFA just last week stated: "89.3% of on-field decisions are considered correct by Referee Operations, increased to 97.6% when including VAR interventions."

That's an improvement of a miserly 8.3.% - but at the cost of many thousands of pounds for each club in the Premiership and the antagonising of an entire customer base. I must say, that doesn't sound like a particularly great deal.

We only have to look at our own games this season - and especially during recent weeks to see how little impact VAR has made when it comes to making "correct" decisions. Mistakes are still happening - because officials are human. Other calls are subjective and debatable - because that's the nature of football. 

When you think about it, that sounds just like how the game was anyway. The only difference is that we have that same situation but with the added expense for clubs and the absolutely horrific experience it offers supporters inside grounds.

And that's the key point. Forget about whether decisions are right or wrong, it's the impact on fans that makes the continuing existence of VAR truly unforgivable.

Football is special for two reasons. Its simplicity and the emotion it generates. VAR fundamentally compromises both. It negatively impacts the speed and spontaneity of the game. There used to be no greater thrill and joy than seeing your team score a goal. But that has been diminished by the knowledge that someone in a booth in Glasgow may just find a reason to chalk it off.

No incremental increase of "correct" decisions can justify that.

And it won't improve, either. That much is clear.

Recently, the Premier League’s Chief Football Officer Tony Scholes admitted: "Where the VAR experience is poor is the in-stadium experience for the supporter. It’s nowhere near good enough. We know it’s not. It affects supporters’ enjoyment of the game, and we know it needs to change."

This comes from the most lucrative league on the planet that has all the resources and facilities - and even they can't get it right after five years. If they're unable to find a workable solution, what chance has the SPFL Premiership got? VAR cannot be reformed. It can't be fixed.

Compared to the likes of the Premier League, which is a made-for-TV product, Scottish football is primarily an in-person spectator sport. Why did clubs - St Johnstone included - decide that wasn't worth protecting?

You have fans in stadiums spending hundreds of pounds a year for season tickets or anything between £25 and £30 for a matchday ticket left in the dark during games and paying for an experience that is demonstrably worse in every way than it was 18 months ago.

How can that be tolerated?

SFA Head of Referee Operations, Crawford Allan spoke about the need for VAR as there is so much money at stake at the top-level of the game. Will that include the funds lost when attendances and season ticket sales plummet as fans walk away from a sport that continues to hold them in contempt?

That is exactly what will happen - and it should terrify anyone who cares about the health of St Johnstone and other clubs.

But it doesn't need to be this way. VAR only exists due to the indulgence of the clubs who pay for it. 

The first club who stands up and questions why we're actually doing this will earn itself kudos with its fanbase and the wider public. But it's not just a way to curry favour with supporters - it's becoming essential to ensure our club and the game remains healthy.

I implore the board at St Johnstone to take that step.

Moreover, what I believe is now a minimum requirement for Saints and all clubs is to address their supporters on the future of VAR. 

Clubs neglected to communicate with fans before it was introduced. That was a failure. Not doing so now that we've all had to live through its presence would be an even greater dereliction of duty.

Heads cannot be buried in the sand because this will not go away. 

Until this glaring reality is confronted - the only future will be continued frustration, emptier stands and lower revenue. The game will be weaker. St Johnstone FC will be in a worse place for it.

And for supporters like me - for whom going to the football and following Saints has meant everything for decades - the depressing prospect of being forced to walk away from that relationship will only become more real.

Edited March 18 by Davis Love III

[Leith Green]

Crawford Allan stepping down, but take a gander at some of the utter gaslighting shite in this press release about VAR. In summary, "can someone think of the poor refs and VAR operators"

Scottish referees' chief Allan to step down in summer - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68597180

[Comrie]

Get this corporate waffle in the bin.

Maxwell wants "to remove the convenient blame culture attached to subjective or unpopular decisions and to ensure more focus is placed on the entertainers rather than the on-field facilitators".

Edited March 18 by Comrie

[Charles Stiles]

Maxwell - 'This includes all key external stakeholders having a better understanding of the laws of the game'

In other words, the fans are thickos that don't know the rules and need educating.

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

Maxwell: "I know what'll get fans on side about VAR. I'll be rude and patronising, that'll DEFINITELY help things."

p***k. 

The fact they see the fans are to blame and not the officials just proves that things simply will not change. They believe they're doing a great job. 

Edited March 18 by SJFCtheTeamForMe

[Charles Stiles]

I don't know the intricacies of how the club ownership works, but as St Mirren and Motherwell are fan owned why can't they be the first clubs to take an official, fan driven stand against VAR? 

[KingswellsRed]

Would a petition using some of @Davis Love III’s excellent wording be possible? I don’t know particularly how these things work.

[velo army]

I don't want to impugn the effort of @Davis Love III as it's a well written piece, but I think what is needed is something which gets to the point quickly. We're trying to get the attention of busy people who don't want to listen to us. We need emotive and brief. What we want is to let our clubs know that we want VAR in the bin. I like that Davis Love III mentions that the reasons given for VAR was the financial cost of wrong decisions, because this is fallacious pish and can be a good point on which to pivot to the decrease of matchday revenue which is of greater importance to our clubs than it is to EPL clubs.

Like @HibsFan in his original post I'd love us to get our heads together and come up with a potent message, so it isn't my intention to rubbish what has been posted above, but to use it as a starting point, take what was good and hone it down a bit.

Dear ______

I'm writing to implore the club to change its stance on VAR and to respect the views of fans that it has become deleterious to the match-going experience.

The promised increased accuracy hasn't materialised and, even if it had, we as fans are now unable to celebrate goals in real time. This spontaneous celebration of goals in real time is the very reason we go to games. This has been sacrificed on the altar of perfectionism and supposed accuracy.

It might be argued that this doesn't affect teams such as ours (in the case of PTFC) as we don't  have VAR in our leagues, but it has affected the way games are officiated at this level. The fact that more top level referees are required to arbitrate in the Premiership means that there are fewer referees of sufficient competence available to the lower leagues. I've also seen referees delay decisions in the Championship as if VAR were in place. The lack of confidence has trickled down.

We supporters don't care if our referees are allowed to officiate in UEFA competitions, and the ambitions of Scottish referees shouldn't take precedence over the enjoyment of supporters who are the financial lifeblood of our club.

That Morton were the only club to come out against VAR is shameful. You didn't ask the supporters what they wanted and took a decision that directly affects our experience of the game. We won't allow this to happen again. 

Yours.

Velo Army.

 

This is just my hat into the ring. I'd like to hear feedback or see other posters' suggested efforts.

 

I'm wondering @Ad Lib if TJF could adopt a stance on this and put a survey out so that we have actual numbers. 

 

 

 

 

[VincentGuerin]

I see there are more "It won't work anyway so I'm not going to do anything" responses on this thread.

Everyone is their own boss, and if you don't want to do anything, then that's your call.

But I'd ask those of that stance to consider the following. You might be right. Maybe nothing changes. However, if you do nothing, then you can be absolutely certain that nothing will change. Put simply, if you want VAR gone, then take five minutes to bash out an email to your club. We all spend more time than that posting fucking shite on here.

How long have you spent reading this thread? How long would it take you to type up a quick email asking if your club thinks VAR is good, outlining your objections, and asking if they plan to engage with their supporters on this?

[Bairnardo]

4 hours ago, Davis Love III said:

Compared to the likes of the Premier League, which is a made-for-TV product, Scottish football is primarily an in-person spectator sport. Why did clubs - St Johnstone included - decide that wasn't worth protecting?

This bit for me, is the key to it all.

Our boards utterly lost the run of themselves when they voted for this pish. It was a collectively lazy, ill informed decision which absolutely missed every mark you could imagine. 

They have just went "But.... Down South......."

[Girth]

I'm proposing a new Pro VAR agenda but with a huge caveat...

VAR will be revised and continue with a clear agenda against The Old Firm. 

Then the Jez Hunts would have something to complain about!

Thank you. 

 

 

 

[10menwent2mow]

1 hour ago, velo army said:

We supporters don't care if our referees are allowed to officiate in UEFA competitions, and the ambitions of Scottish referees shouldn't take precedence over the enjoyment of supporters who are the financial lifeblood of our club.

 

While I agree with this position broadly it may also have to be considered that the removal of VAR may have an even further detrimental affect on the standard of refereeing in Scotland. 

How many refs would chuck it if they were suddenly told, you won't ever be able to ref at the highest level in UEFA/FIFA competitions. Would it affect the uptake further down the chain if that barrier was put up. 

I'm not suggesting that the refs should take priority over the game going fan but they are an integrally important part of the game.  

[CoF]

5 hours ago, Davis Love III said:

This is an email that I wrote into St Johnstone a month ago. It was passed on by the SLO to the CEO and Board of Directors. I haven't heard anything back since - but here's a look for anyone who is interested. Hopefully it covers enough general points that will resonate with all supporters.

Spoiler

I am of course joking, it’s a great letter.

 

 

Edited March 18 by CoF

[HIT THE CHANNEL]

2 hours ago, velo army said:

I don't want to impugn the effort of @Davis Love III as it's a well written piece, but I think what is needed is something which gets to the point quickly. We're trying to get the attention of busy people who don't want to listen to us. We need emotive and brief. What we want is to let our clubs know that we want VAR in the bin. I like that Davis Love III mentions that the reasons given for VAR was the financial cost of wrong decisions, because this is fallacious pish and can be a good point on which to pivot to the decrease of matchday revenue which is of greater importance to our clubs than it is to EPL clubs.

Like @HibsFan in his original post I'd love us to get our heads together and come up with a potent message, so it isn't my intention to rubbish what has been posted above, but to use it as a starting point, take what was good and hone it down a bit.

Dear ______

I'm writing to implore the club to change its stance on VAR and to respect the views of fans that it has become deleterious to the match-going experience.

The promised increased accuracy hasn't materialised and, even if it had, we as fans are now unable to celebrate goals in real time. This spontaneous celebration of goals in real time is the very reason we go to games. This has been sacrificed on the altar of perfectionism and supposed accuracy.

It might be argued that this doesn't affect teams such as ours (in the case of PTFC) as we don't  have VAR in our leagues, but it has affected the way games are officiated at this level. The fact that more top level referees are required to arbitrate in the Premiership means that there are fewer referees of sufficient competence available to the lower leagues. I've also seen referees delay decisions in the Championship as if VAR were in place. The lack of confidence has trickled down.

We supporters don't care if our referees are allowed to officiate in UEFA competitions, and the ambitions of Scottish referees shouldn't take precedence over the enjoyment of supporters who are the financial lifeblood of our club.

That Morton were the only club to come out against VAR is shameful. You didn't ask the supporters what they wanted and took a decision that directly affects our experience of the game. We won't allow this to happen again. 

Yours.

Velo Army.

 

This is just my hat into the ring. I'd like to hear feedback or see other posters' suggested efforts.

 

I'm wondering @Ad Lib if TJF could adopt a stance on this and put a survey out so that we have actual numbers. 

 

 

 

 

This is a really good draft and one I will heavily borrow from to send an email to Raith Rovers this week (thanks mate!). Our board has been good at properly engaging with the fans so I would hope they will engage productively.

I think the key 'aim' has to be to get each club to consult the match day going fans (ST holders and those who are in the system as attending a match this year) and hold a binding vote on whether the club should change policy on VAR. 

 

 

EDIT TO ADD: in the hope that some of this activism is transferable, I have also created a draft for fans to us to encourage their clubs to a) oppose the ban on artificial pitches in the top flight and b) ensure that it is  fair vote of all 42 clubs. It is in the 'artificial pitch' thread.

 

 

Edited March 18 by HIT THE CHANNEL

[Desp]

3 hours ago, Charles Stiles said:

I don't know the intricacies of how the club ownership works, but as St Mirren and Motherwell are fan owned why can't they be the first clubs to take an official, fan driven stand against VAR? 

Agree.  I'd like to see Hearts, Motherwell & St. Mirren take the lead on this.  Providing the relevant Boards of the FOH, Well Society & whatever St. Mirren have are actually in favour of VAR or not.

It's one of the points I asked in my email to the WS.  I think there's 7 or 8 on the Board of the WS, so I'm keen to see if a majority of the Board are in favour of it or not.  If the majority of the Board aren't in favour, what's their plan? 

[Leith Green]

3 minutes ago, Desp said:

Agree.  I'd like to see Hearts, Motherwell & St. Mirren take the lead on this.  Providing the relevant Boards of the FOH, Well Society & whatever St. Mirren have are actually in favour of VAR or not.

It's one of the points I asked in my email to the WS.  I think there's 7 or 8 on the Board of the WS, so I'm keen to see if a majority of the Board are in favour of it or not.  If the majority of the Board aren't in favour, what's their plan? 

Dont be too surprised if they dont give you what you want and just boot it down the road as per.

The boards (even fan owned) may not have the same views as ordinary punters and will have other priorities.

Example - Hibs complained about sectarian singing and other poor behaviours, and have been asked to chat with the SFA about it, as we all know.

Most fans on here think its a fucking disgrace as well - but not one club (even fan owned ones) have said anything public in support of what Hibs said.

I should say - I didnt actually expect them to (nor would Hibs have said anything had Well come out with a similar statement) - pretty much all the clubs do what is to their benefit and, basically, sod the rest.

[Ad Lib]

3 hours ago, velo army said:

I don't want to impugn the effort of @Davis Love III as it's a well written piece, but I think what is needed is something which gets to the point quickly. We're trying to get the attention of busy people who don't want to listen to us. We need emotive and brief. What we want is to let our clubs know that we want VAR in the bin. I like that Davis Love III mentions that the reasons given for VAR was the financial cost of wrong decisions, because this is fallacious pish and can be a good point on which to pivot to the decrease of matchday revenue which is of greater importance to our clubs than it is to EPL clubs.

Like @HibsFan in his original post I'd love us to get our heads together and come up with a potent message, so it isn't my intention to rubbish what has been posted above, but to use it as a starting point, take what was good and hone it down a bit.

Dear ______

I'm writing to implore the club to change its stance on VAR and to respect the views of fans that it has become deleterious to the match-going experience.

The promised increased accuracy hasn't materialised and, even if it had, we as fans are now unable to celebrate goals in real time. This spontaneous celebration of goals in real time is the very reason we go to games. This has been sacrificed on the altar of perfectionism and supposed accuracy.

It might be argued that this doesn't affect teams such as ours (in the case of PTFC) as we don't  have VAR in our leagues, but it has affected the way games are officiated at this level. The fact that more top level referees are required to arbitrate in the Premiership means that there are fewer referees of sufficient competence available to the lower leagues. I've also seen referees delay decisions in the Championship as if VAR were in place. The lack of confidence has trickled down.

We supporters don't care if our referees are allowed to officiate in UEFA competitions, and the ambitions of Scottish referees shouldn't take precedence over the enjoyment of supporters who are the financial lifeblood of our club.

That Morton were the only club to come out against VAR is shameful. You didn't ask the supporters what they wanted and took a decision that directly affects our experience of the game. We won't allow this to happen again. 

Yours.

Velo Army.

 

This is just my hat into the ring. I'd like to hear feedback or see other posters' suggested efforts.

 

I'm wondering @Ad Lib if TJF could adopt a stance on this and put a survey out so that we have actual numbers. 

Drop TJF an email and we can bring it up at our next board meeting (next week).

Personally I think VAR needs to get in the fucking bin, but I can't speak for anyone else on this (yet)!

[Dirty Sanchez]

8 hours ago, HibsFan said:

We now have that ChatGPT for this exact purpose, when I’ve got some free time I’ll get a few templates fired up.

Chat GPT could surely do a better job presenting Sportsound than Kenny Mac.