Referee makes in-stadium announcement to rule out a goal in a first for English soccer

For the first time in English soccer, a referee has made an NFL-style in-stadium announcement about the outcome of a video review.

Stuart Attwell, the referee for Tottenham against Liverpool in the English League Cup on Wednesday, used the public address system to announce that a goal by Spurs striker Dominic Solanke in the 76th minute had been ruled out for offside. Attwell communicated the decision via a wireless microphone to spectators inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and to TV viewers.

Attwell spoke after a VAR review lasting around two minutes and said Solanke had been in an offside position for the goal that looked like putting Tottenham 1-0 ahead. Ten minutes later, Solanke set up Lucas Bergvall to score in Spurs' 1-0 win in the first leg of the semifinals.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou wasn't impressed with the historic moment.

“If people think that announcement tonight added anything to the game, I'm sorry,” Postecoglou said. "I mean, really, just get on with it.

“It used to be you put the flag up and the game goes on. But anyway.”

The League Cup semifinals were chosen to pilot a process in England that has been widely used in other sports.

NFL referees were given wireless microphones in 1975 to explain penalty decisions.

The NFL had an initial replay system from 1986-91, abandoned it, then reinstalled it for the 1999 season. The NHL added a replay system in 1991 and the NBA in 2002.

Major League Baseball began in-park announcements during replay reviews in 2022 and microphones have long-been used by rugby referees.

In soccer, in-stadium announcements were in place at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 and other FIFA events.