Perception amongst fans supporting non-Premiership clubs on VAR

Date: 22nd May 2024

This survey, conducted in association with the University of Edinburgh, follows from our two previous surveys of fans on VAR.  The first two were almost exclusively aimed and – and answered by – fans of Premiership clubs, the ones affected by VAR.  However, with VAR never far from the headlines and many fans telling us they prefer watching lower Division games without it, we wanted to test opinion among fans of clubs* that aspire (even if only one day in the future) to be in the top flight of Scottish football and to see what their views are about VAR.

Three-quarters of respondents were from fans of lower Division clubs. Their views are very much in line with those of supporters of Premiership clubs. The key takeaways from the survey are as follows:

80% of fans understand how VAR works. 8% said they don’t and 12% were unsure.

85% said they think that if VAR were introduced to the lower Divisions it would decrease their enjoyment of matches. Only 5% said it would improve their enjoyment and the remainder said it would make no difference.

When asked if their club were to be promoted to the Premiership they believe that having to have VAR would decrease or increase their enjoyment of matches, 84% said it would, with 10% saying it wouldn’t and the remainder unsure.

When asked if they prefer watching lower Division matches (in person or on TV) without VAR or Premiership matches with VAR, 85% said they prefer lower Division matches.

Perhaps surprisingly, nearly half (48%) of respondents said that the prospect of having VAR in their matches would put them off wanting their club to be promoted to the Premiership. 36% said it would not and the remainder were unsure.

We asked if fans though their club could afford the cost of VAR (around £100K minimum per season) if their club was promoted. 85% said no and only 6% said yes.

Fans were offered 11 statements about VAR and asked to tick all those they agree with (they could tick as many as they liked):

VAR improves the accuracy of refereeing decisions (18%)

VAR reduces the likelihood of game-changing errors (24%)

VAR enhances fairness and impartiality in match outcomes (11%)

VAR provides additional support for referees in difficult decision-making situations (34%)

VAR promotes transparency and accountability in officiating (9%)

VAR improves the overall integrity and credibility of football competitions (8%)

VAR facilitates the correction of clear and obvious errors (23%)

VAR reduces fans’ enjoyment of the game (81%)

VAR has not achieved its aims of reducing obvious errors and controversy (81%)

VAR sucks the joy from the moment when fans celebrate a goal being scored (81%)

VAR has not delivered the improvements we were promised it would (83%)

We then asked fans some questions about refereeing and VAR.

Firstly, we asked if they believe the introduction of VAR in to the lower Divisions (assuming this were possible) would change the way games are refereed?  68% said yes, it would, 22% said not and 10% were unsure.

Next, we asked a more general questions about the quality of refereeing in the lower Divisions. Respondents were asked to rate the overall performance of ref on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). The majority, 58%, rated them from average to excellent.  The exact figures are shown below.

1 – 18%

2 – 23%

3 – 41%

4 – 15%

5 – 2%

We also asked fans which of the following groups would benefit if VAR was introduced to the lower Divisions.  Again, they were able to tick more than one response.  The clear majority believe that ‘none of the above’ would benefit, suggesting, in our view, that cynicism about VAR is deep-rooted in Scottish football.

Fans (7%)

Match officials (27%)

The media (19%)

Players (10%)

Clubs (10%)

None of the above (64%)

Other (there were only two comments we can reproduce! One person said the SFA in terms of money and another said the companies who provide VAR).

Finally, we asked the same question about the cost-benefit of VAR that we asked in our previous survey, viz, “Do you feel that the increased likelihood of a correct decision outweighs the disruption that would be caused to matches by the introduction of VAR into the lower divisions?”  78% said yes, 16% said no and 8% were unsure.  Our last survey (largely answered by fans of Premiership clubs) showed 66% of fans said yes to this question. It may be that the intervening months have crystalised fans’ views as more VAR controversy has been reported, but that would require further investigation to confirm or deny this.

Conclusion

Every survey conducted by the SFSA (and indeed by virtually every other organisation) shows a huge degree of discontent with VAR and its application. The football authorities can either continue to ignore their ‘customers’ or they can do what we believe they should, which is to follow Sweden’s lead and conduct a comprehensive, independent review of VAR in Scotland, with nothing off the table (whether an extension of VAR into other areas, a moratorium on its use or some visible action to improve its use or even scrapping it entirely).  To that end, we have launched a poll with one simple question, viz,

 Question:

Do you agree that the Scottish Football Authorities should work with ALL stakeholders, principally the fans who are the lifeblood of the game, and under an independent, external chair, to conduct a comprehensive review of the way VAR has worked so far in Scotland, with nothing off the table, including extending VAR into new areas or scrapping VAR until it works properly in the view of the majority of stakeholders?  

YES 

NO – I think VAR, despite its faults, should be persevered with as it solves more problems than it causes.

It will take less than 30 seconds to take part in the poll, which you can do here:

https://scottishfsa.org/now-is-the-time-for-a-proper-debate-on-var/

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