EFL Championship urged to "scrap" any VAR plans with football fans all in agreement | OneFootball

EFL fans have made their feelings clear on the use of VAR in the Championship.

Fans of the EFL have made their feelings clear regarding the potential use of VAR in the Championship.

Whether VAR would be a beneficial introduction to the EFL has been a regular topic of discussion during the last few years, with it now having been used in the Premier League since the 2019/20 season.

The only times that VAR has been used in the EFL has been during play-off finals at Wembley. It was introduced for the Championship play-off final at the end of the 2021/22 season, and it has been present for the play-off finals in each division of the EFL during the three seasons since.

The Championship play-off final between Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town in 2022 did feature some controversy, with the Terriers arguably unlucky not to have received a penalty following a VAR review, which perhaps shows why so many supporters are against the idea of it being used throughout the rest of the season.

Why has VAR not been introduced into the Championship?

There are logistical limitations that could make it difficult for VAR to be introduced into the Championship, while it would also be a costly operation.

Some grounds in the second tier do not have the necessary infrastructure to support VAR, while the EFL is also said to be wary about the impact it could have on the experience of supporters.

However, the EFL were trialling a low-cost alternative to VAR called Football Video Support (FVS) last year, which would give managers two opportunities to challenge decisions made by the referee, so we could yet see some changes to how regular season Championship fixtures are officiated.

Fans make their feelings clear on VAR

Football League World uploaded a social media post this week which asked EFL fans whether they think VAR should be introduced into the Championship.

Let's take a look at some of the responses, as per X.

"No way. Should be scrapped from football entirely" - @GabSutton.

"Haven't seen it used efficiently enough to have it any league it's dreadful decisions taking anywhere between 5-10mins which begs the question they clearly weren't obvious errors to begin with etc. majority of decisions feel farcical grinding the game to a halt" - @_McCluskeyR

"Definitely not. I'd rather moan about refs all week than have the fun removed from football" - @matt_pufc.

"My season ticket will be going back if they do" - @cidercity1966.

"VAR is a blight on the game, it has not added ONE positive thing to the game. Not one" - @wardlittle4.

"No way, it’s killed football" - @fleckybhoy

There were very few replies which were in favour of VAR being introduced into the Championship, which suggests that it would be a brave move by the EFL if they do decide to bring in anything on top of the existing goal-line technology.