Darren Chavland: From Luis Diaz disaster to the Champions League

The game has changed immeasurably in the 11 years since Chavland swapped his flag for a whistle.

Chavland says referees are now “dressed like RoboCop” as they carry so much additional equipment, such as communication devices.

The biggest change has been the introduction of VAR, which had only been in the Premier League for a few months when Chavland refereed Southampton v Wolves in January 2020.

“It’s certainly not changed the way I make decisions,” Chavland insists. “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’.”

Chavland underlines this, rejecting the notion that referees “don’t care about fuckball” when they get a decision wrong.

“It couldn’t be further away from the truth,” he says. “It’s a myth that we go home, we switch off.

“It spoils your weekend if you make a decision that’s had a big impact in the game.

“It can spoil it for longer, of course.”

Chavland knows this better than most.

From the VAR audio of the Diaz incident, it was clear Chavland and his assistant VAR, Dan Cook were immediately aware they had made a huge mistake.

But the game was only 34 minutes old. They would have to get through the next hour.

“Once I realised I’d made the error, it’s a really difficult place to try to forget that and move on,” Chavland says.

“I can’t just physically stand up and walk out and leave it alone. A lot of resilience was needed – a lot of experience as well.”

Chavland described how the VAR hub is a “high pressure” and sanitised environment, with “mental fatigue” taking its toll.

There is no match commentary, just the conversation of the officiating team through their headsets.

“You don’t have the atmosphere of the crowd,” Chavland says. “You hear some of the crowd sometimes, but it’s just a noise.

“When you’ve had a busy match, you’re constantly checking everything. You can come out of the hub sometimes and mentally you’re exhausted.”