I Wanted VAR. I Was Naive.

03C A proper FA Cup night at the Racecourse showed Wrexham fans what the Premier League destination might really look like.

📷 Wrexham AFC Club Photographer Dan Purdie

03C

VAR is like politics.

It creates apathy because you feel like you can do nothing about it.

You sit there watching events unfold in front of you, knowing decisions are being made that you have absolutely no power to change.

While politicians sit around a cabinet table in Westminster drinking wine and deciding what’s best for everyone else, Gianni Infantino and his cronies sit in their FIFA boardrooms doing exactly the same thing.

Ordinary fans might hate VAR.

But nobody at the top is listening.

And last Saturday evening we saw it up close.

Wrexham v Chelsea. FA Cup. Under the lights at the Racecourse.

A brilliant atmosphere.

A proper FA Cup night.

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For years I’ve warned Wrexham fans to enjoy the journey, because the destination is not what it’s made out to be.

And let’s be honest about it.

The Premier League is… shit.

Unless you support one of the so-called “big six” — or whatever we call it now that Spurs seem to have politely stepped aside — the reality is very different.

You spend vast amounts of money watching your team struggle week after week just to crawl towards the magic 40-point mark.

That’s the destination.

And that’s before we even talk about the dreaded VAR.

Let’s get it out there from the start.

I wanted VAR.

I wanted referees to have help.

I wanted cheating stamped out.

I thought technology would make the game fairer.

I was naive.

This fool voted for Brexit because, like a dumbhead, I thought it would cut down the bureaucracy.

I’ve regretted it ever since.

Now I’m standing at the bar of sorrow, refilling my glass with pure 100% remorse.

So yes, I have form.

Just as some people argue that Brexit failed because it wasn’t the “right type of Brexit”, I’m now wondering if football has the wrong type of VAR.

Because I still think referees should have help.

But the way the system works now just doesn’t feel right.

And it wouldn’t be the first time the Football Association has taken a decent idea and made a mess of it.

Remember when they introduced the 10-yard rule for players giving the referee lip?

Great idea in theory. But referees had to book a player before moving the ball forward. Most abuse didn’t really warrant a booking, so the rule was never used properly and eventually disappeared.

After Wrexham’s first real encounter with VAR, my timeline was full of hatred for the system.

And it wasn’t just Wrexham fans.

Neutrals watching the game were enjoying it, but they all said the same thing.

VAR had spoiled it.

Take the sending off of George Dobson.

That decision was subjective.

Online after the game people were still arguing about it.

Was it a yellow card?

Should it have been upgraded to a red?

If the debate is still raging hours later, then surely the conclusion is that nobody actually knows for sure.

You simply have two different opinions.

Which is why VAR struggles.

It pretends that subjective decisions can somehow become objective.

Football used to be the only sport where you could celebrate instantly.

Now you celebrate.

Then you wait.

Then you look at the referee.

Then you look at the screen.

Then you wonder if you’re actually allowed to be happy.

So I’ll leave you with the moment when Wrexham thought they’d equalised against Chelsea. Watch the scenes in the Wrexham Lager stand.

The joy.

The limbs.

The chaos.

Then VAR stepped in.

You can see exactly what the system stops.

You can see why so many football fans hate it.

And yes…

I really, really am sorry about Brexit.

This is Wrexham, week on week.

The football club, the music scene, the people and the places that make the town what it is.

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