New Scottish FA head of refereeing Willie Collum says he would be open to the introduction of in-stadium VAR explanations and automated offsides.
The former top-flight referee ended an almost 30-year career as an official to replace Crawford Allan in the role earlier this month.
Within his first weeks at Hampden Park he has been meeting Premiership clubs and wants to ensure the operation and delivery of VAR improves next season, as well as introducing changes around the handball rule.
Collum was the last Scottish referee to officiate at a major finals – at Euro 2016 – and hopes he can improve standards to get officials back to the top of the game.
Here’s what he told Sky Sports News ahead of the new season…
His start to the job…
“It’s been a hectic time, a really good time. I’ve enjoyed it, but really busy. We’ve been out and about in recent weeks, visiting the Premiership clubs and getting ready for the new season. We have a lot of meetings coming up with our referees, we’ve been speaking to the media, so a busy time getting ready for the new season, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it so far.”
The top priorities…
“Everybody would expect and agree with me in talking about VAR. We need to make improvements around VAR, how it’s interpreted, about our line intervention, but I’m also really big in telling people we’re trying to improve our standards in on-field decision making. That’s really important.
“So far, I’ve tried to engage with the clubs, I’ve engaged with coaches, I’ve engaged with the top referees about where we want to be this season, what that will look like, and we’re hoping, particularly in some areas like handball, to move towards a football understanding and expectation.
“We know we were in a difficult position last season with handball, we received a lot of criticism for that and we want to move forward and make improvements. We’re trying to engage different stakeholders, make a difference and move in the right direction.”
How he will improve VAR…
“We’ve had really robust discussions with the referees about line intervention and when it’s right to intervene, about what clear and obvious is, what a right and wrong decision is, and the importance of getting the decision right and what football expects.
“I’ve worked hard with the referees to understand the differences we want to make from last season when VAR intervened, particularly again around handball. If we get the decisions right on the field, there’ll be less pressure in Clydesdale House for the VARs [officials] and we won’t need to see VAR getting involved as much.
“But VAR is great for us in terms of that safety net, and if used properly, it’s a real benefit to the game because it makes sure we don’t miss anything that would be match-changing or affect what people would expect in terms of football.
“We are in the process of recruiting for a VAR manager role, we think that will be key. I don’t want people to think that they’ll suddenly become responsible for VAR and I’ll step back, they’ll be under my guidance, but we think that will be really important.
“What I’ve realised since I’ve come into this role, there’s a lot to be done, there’s lots of different avenues that need addressing, need dealing with, and I can’t do that all on my own. I need everybody’s help, including the referees, the clubs, the media, we need everybody to support us. But the VAR manager role will mean that somebody is there with a specific focus on VAR, will lead on that front, will coach and match officials, will liaise with stakeholders, and it’s a really crucial role for us moving forward to make improvements.
“I want to be very careful because it will depend on what happens in matches, but in principle, we want to increase that, we want to make sure there’s not as much involvement. Again, that will be helped if on-field decisions are correct, and also that our match officials have a clear understanding of expectations.”
What about handballs…
“As I said earlier, we’ve moved towards thinking about football expectation. We need to balance that because there’s still the laws of the game we’re governed by, but we want to move to more ‘what would football expect here, what would they understand?’.
“We consulted with the top referees and Premiership managers, we asked them to come and give us their views, we’ve looked at that and I think we’re now on the same page. I’ve visited six or seven clubs this week, and I have to say that generally they’re very happy with the interpretation that we’ll adopt moving forward with handball.
“There will be some changes, there will be differences in how we approach handball, but I think that will be for the benefit of football, and the benefit of Scottish football in particular.”
Learnings from the Euros…
“I’m really pleased to say that I’ve pushed hard for the captain approach, for referees and the captains. We’ll adopt the same process that took place during the Euros, where the captain will speak to the referee.
“I’ve been speaking to the clubs and the referees, and going forward that’s a real positive for us. This is not to issue more cards for dissent, or put down a very firm marker, this is to prevent dissent. It’s also a respectful, a two-way thing – we want the captain to respect us and speak to us and we also understand the referee needs to respect the captain and engage with him.
“We think this will be more transparent, more dialogue between the captain and the referees, and in my opinion, and I know in wider football’s opinion, it worked really well during the Euros.
“Everybody has a responsibility in football to protect the image of the game. We’re like any club: we’re recruiting, we’re trying to retain, we’re trying to bring through new referees, and it’s really important that people don’t think that my role is only focused on the top level of the game. I’m about Scottish refereeing generally, and we want to make sure that our referees feel safe, they feel valued, they feel respected, they feel they have a place in the game, that’s really important for me.
“I would ask everybody, whether it’s players, coaches, the media, or other stakeholders, that we’re respectful towards referees. That doesn’t mean we’re not accepting any kind of criticism – we’re open to criticism – but it needs to be in a correct manner, and nothing over the top, including also their mental health. It is of paramount importance to me.
“We have a very strict marking system in Scotland, and we follow the same kind of marking system that’s used through many countries. Referees performances are assessed. Being honest, when I was an active referee, you would also assess your own performance.
“There is accountability in refereeing, people don’t think there is any, but I can assure people that there is and there will be more accountability. But just like any club, we won’t be public at times with that. We need to speak to our referees, we need to give them their place, but we will expect high standards, and that will continue.
“Under my leadership, I’m sure the referees will support me in that. We know that accountability is important, but we also know that we need to make sure decision-making is right.”
Automated offsides or in-stadium explanations…
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“I think we would embrace any advancement that would improve the message we would send out and the communication. Cost is a factor and we need to accept that. That doesn’t mean that we’ll diminish anything, we’ll work with the resources we have, we’ll be very professional and we’ll make improvements, even with the current resources.
“We are open to any of these initiatives, whether it be the in-stadium communication, whether it be an improvement to the offside directives that we can use or the offside images. We would embrace anything, but it’s a cost. For me, there will come a time when there will be in-stadium communication and we’ll be ready to embrace that when it comes.”
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