How I ‘invented’ VAR at Bristol City in 1973

Re Simon Jenkins’ article (For a bird’s eye view of British conservatism, look at sport. No wonder VAR in football is in trouble, 16 May), I think I could claim to be first to use video to record a disputed offside decision.

On 22 September 1973, Bristol City was at home to Sheffield Wednesday. In my role as manager of Rediffusion’s Bristol Channel, a small new community television station, I had been invited by City to show the possible use of video in training.

Trying out different places to record, by chance I was exactly opposite the incident. The linesman’s flag stayed down and City’s Keith Fear went on to score.

It was not until afterwards that I saw what my camera had captured. The decision was right: goal. In the crowded club office after the match, I replayed the tape to repeated requests – from both teams and their managers, then the linesman and the referee, then the referee’s assessor – and finally the Bristol Evening Post, which normally ignored our station.

For them, a replay was on the condition that their report properly named us. Monday’s paper honoured the deal, their report headlined “TV proves it – Fear goal was onside”.
Prof Peter Lewis
London Metropolitan University

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