Darren England promoted to Champions League VAR after rebuilding career from high‑profile error

Darren England was promoted to serve as a VAR in the Champions League for the first time on Tuesday when Galatasaray faced Stuttgart, having rebuilt his career after a high‑profile VAR error three years earlier in the Tottenham v Liverpool match.

Three years ago, while acting as the video assistant referee, England failed to overturn the disallowance of Luis Diaz’s goal despite VAR images showing the player was onside; England said "check complete" and the goal remained disallowed. The incident occurred 34 minutes into the game, audio revealed immediate recognition of the mistake by England and assistant VAR Dan Cook, and it provoked intense media scrutiny including a Liverpool statement saying "sporting integrity" had been "undermined".

England says the episode was “a low point. The lowest point, of course,” adding that "Refereeing is about low points and high points" and describing the Premier League as a "goldfish bowl" that exposed his family to unwanted attention. Photographers gathered outside his children’s school and personal family photographs were taken from his wife’s Facebook account during the aftermath.

Following the error he was removed from Premier League selection and it was almost three months before he refereed a top‑flight game again; he did not return to full rotation until February and it was six‑and‑a‑half months before he served as VAR in the Premier League once more. The Football Association eased his return with FA Cup ties that included Michael Oliver as support VAR, and England says he "did a lot of work with a sports psychologist" and relied on family and friends for support.

England has since been appointed to major matches on and off the field, including acting as VAR for a May review that disallowed West Ham’s stoppage‑time equaliser against Arsenal — a decision described in the article as the 'biggest VAR call ever' — and refereeing the FA Cup final where Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0. He said he "absolutely understood the magnitude" of the West Ham‑Arsenal decision and that he "kept calm" under pressure; of the FA Cup final he called it "a huge high for me, the pinnacle as a referee."

On how the game has changed, England notes referees now carry more equipment and are "dressed like RoboCop" and that VAR had only been in the Premier League for a few months when he refereed Southampton v Wolves in January 2020. He insists "It's certainly not changed the way I make decisions," adding: "If I play on on a penalty decision, some people think the perception is 'oh you're waiting for VAR to get involved'. 'No, I've played on because I don't think it's a penalty. 'But I would rather be driving home from a game now thinking, 'OK, I misread it live, I've had the opportunity to go to the screen and we've corrected it'."

England describes the VAR hub as a "high pressure" and sanitised environment where "mental fatigue" can take its toll: "You don't have the atmosphere of the crowd," he said, noting officials hear only headset conversation and sometimes crowd noise as background. He also highlighted the extra scrutiny from supporters and media, saying "If you want to go searching for good feedback on social media and you're listening to phone‑ins, you probably won't find much," and confirming "I don't have social media, I made a decision not to."

Recognition for his recovery has come from colleagues as well as appointments; at a referees' training camp Hugh Dallas introduced England as someone who had "become a role model" and presented him with a Premier League plaque and medal after his 100th top‑flight game. England qualified as a referee aged 15, refereed his first match in Royston near Barnsley, worked at Barnsley's academy while refereeing on weekends, and in 2015 at age 28 he restarted in the National League as a referee and within four and a half years took charge of his first Premier League fixture.

Uefa has moved England through its tiers as a VAR — after 10 Conference League appointments and six in the Europa League — and this week elevated him to the Champions League VAR list; his immediate assignment is to act as a VAR for the Galatasaray v Stuttgart Champions League fixture on Tuesday, while he continues to list finals such as the Carabao Cup and the Championship play‑off final among his remaining ambitions.