Willie Collum reveals stance on Scottish football goalline technology and in-game VAR announcements

Amid reports last week that Premier League matches in England for the 2025/26 season are set to feature referees explain major VAR decisions on a mic to the crowd, Collum revealed that officials north of the border could be trained swiftly so that they could do the same and did not rule out such an innovation being brought in midway through a season. However, he stressed that Premiership teams would need to get infrastructure in place first before he could move forward with his team of officials.

Collum said he would also welcome the implementation of goalline technology within the Scottish top flight after controversial decisions last season involving Celtic, Rangers and Hibs, but reiterated that it would cost "a substantial amount of money".

Speaking ahead of the league season starting this weekend, Collum said: "We've certainly been speaking to the clubs about other aspects of technology, goalline technology being one of them. We've also been speaking to the clubs about in-stadium comms. It's financial. The decisions are financial. We need the clubs to make those decisions.

"What I would say is that I would have open arms to any of these. We would certainly embrace them. But I also want to say something else and I'm not paying this lip service, I want to be really honest: we won't use a lack of something as an excuse for anything. We'll do the best we can with the resources we have got. But we won't say we think the ball is out, we've told the referees that we want factual evidence, conclusive evidence to prove a decision. Would we embrace goalline technology, would we embrace stadium comms? Absolutely. But I'll be honest and say I don't think that's a decision directly for me."

Enhacing in-game experience

Asked directly if we are getting closer to either goalline technology or in-stadium comms, Collum continued: "I think we are closer. I think we've had good discussions with the clubs. Let's take the in-stadium comms, when the referee goes to the monitor and can make an announcement - you're enhancing transparency even more. You know I'm about that - even more people are seeing it. We're also taking into cognisance about what clubs are saying and the in-stadium experience for fans. We want to support that as well.

"We don't think [it would cost a fortune]. We've already been doing a bit of work in the background looking at costing and whatever for that. We would welcome it. We think that's doable. With goalline technology, it's doable, you can bring it in - but it would cost a substantial amount of money."

Introducing in-game comms would likely involve a smaller investment, although it would be dependent on each club. "It's hard for me to say," Collum said on finances. "That's the reality because you'd need to look at stadium infrastructure. Say you go to Aberdeen or Motherwell, they might have two completely different tannoy systems, and it would be about how much fibre you need to put in, for example. So it would be crazy for me to put a ballpark figure on it."

Nevertheless, Collum believes referees could be ready to broadcast their decisions to the public not long after the clubs give the OK. "So if clubs gave us the green light for it financially, we would train the referees immediately," said Collum. "In England, they trained the referees and it's not as simple as people think, going to the monitor and making an announcement. You've got to get the wording right, about selling decisions, but we would move fast with that. If we get a green light for that, we would introduce it within a season even. I don't mean within a season meaning next season, I mean we would be happy to introduce it in a current season.

Asked if he could have it in place within months, Collum replied: "One hundred per cent."

‘Humanising’ referees

Collum believes referees being more open to supporters will help "humanise" them. Since taking up his role at the SFA a year ago, the 46-year-old former official has held a monthly VAR show and is hellbent on making sure fans see a different side to officials.

"People just see us running about a pitch on a Saturday and they don't know us as individuals," said Collum. "But we're people like all of us - they love football. We love refereeing. But I think these things have helped humanise refereeing a bit better. We do a lot on trying to promote. We've got really good videos about promoting women's refereeing. The video we have just now is showing female referees in their outfits that they are wearing for their job, in terms of us being nurses, police officers. We want to humanise referees, we want to encourage people into the game. So we think these are good strides.

"But what I want to emphasise in that: I don't ever think referees want to be celebrities. We're not the main protagonists in the game, and we don't want that. Sometimes that can be a criticism levelled at us, where we want to be the centre of attention. Nothing can be further from the truth. No referee in the country wants to be that. We want everything to be low-key and out the road. That would make sense for us, but we also want to show people who we are away from the pitch."