Willie Collum will become Scottish football’s first VAR when the system makes its debut north of the border on Friday night.
The experienced ref has been appointed by the SFA to take charge of the technology in Clydesdale House when Hibs take on St Johnstone in a crunch Premiership clash at Easter Road. Collum will be assisted by Graeme Stewart and will be charged with reviewing any key decisions which on-field referee Kevin Clancy may have got wrong.
Steven McLean has been appointed as VAR for Celtic’s lunchtime clash at Hearts on Saturday, assisted by David McGeachie, while Greg Aitken will take the controls when Rangers host Livingston later that afternoon with Alan Mulvanny assisting. Elsewhere on Saturday, Andrew Dallas and Jonathan Bell will be the video assistants for Motherwell v Aberdeen, Don Robertson and Daniel MacFarlane for Kilmarnock’s clash with Ross County and Alan Muir assisted by John McCrossan at St Mirren v Dundee United.
Collum spoke last week about the importance of VAR in helping reduce the number of controversial calls in the top flight. He said: “My honest opinion is this is about benefiting us in Scotland. It’s to avoid the controversy here. That’s the biggest thing - to ensure we aren’t the headline any more.
“The biggest thing for us is that we’ll get another opportunity to see things. That will be a Godsend for all of us — that opportunity to have a safety net and know that, if I make an error, then I’ve got the chance to see it again.
“I won’t be worrying about what Sportscene will show on Saturday night or what someone will text you. I’ll get the chance to see it there and then. But the key principle is the same: the referee MUST try to get the decision right on the field.
“As a referee, you don’t want to need to use VAR. It’s great coming off when you haven’t used VAR because the prime focus is to get the decision right on the field.
“I’ve been refereeing for a long time. I think probably looking back it would have been a dream come true to be able to see things again.”
VAR will only be used for review in four key instances during matches - cases of mistaken identity, straight red cards, every goal and penalty area decisions.
Scottish Premiership VAR appointments in full
Hibernian v St Johnstone
Friday, 21 October 2022 – 7.30pm
VAR: William Collum
AVAR: Graeme Stewart
The on-field referee will be Kevin Clancy, with assistant referees Alastair Mather and David Doig. The fourth official will be Graham Grainger.
Heart of Midlothian v Celtic
Saturday, 22 October 2022 – 12.30pm
Referee: Nick Walsh
AR1: David Roome
AR2: Ross Macleod
Fourth Official: Craig Napier
VAR: Steven McLean
AVAR: David McGeachie
Kilmarnock v Ross County
Saturday, 22 October 2022 – 3pm
Referee: Colin Steven
AR1: Craig Ferguson
AR2: Steven Traynor
Fourth Official: Scott Lambie
VAR: Don Robertson
AVAR: Daniel MacFarlane
Motherwell v Aberdeen
Saturday, 22 October 2022 – 3pm
Referee: Euan Anderson
AR1: Graham McNeillie
AR2: Paul O’Neill
Fourth Official: Dan McFarlane
VAR: Andrew Dallas
AVAR: Jonathan Bell
Rangers v Livingston
Saturday, 22 October 2022 – 3pm
Referee: David Munro
AR1: Dougie Potter
AR2: Colin Drummond
Fourth Official: Steven Kirkland
VAR: Greg Aitken
AVAR: Alan Mulvanny
St Mirren v Dundee United
Saturday, 22 October 2022 – 3pm
Referee: Grant Irvine
AR1: Gordon Crawford
AR2: Michael Banks
Fourth Official: Barry Cook
VAR: Alan Muir
AVAR: John McCrossan
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