Keith Hackett This truly was a watershed moment for English football

Howard Webb’s appearance on Sky Sports last night was a watershed moment for English football.

For years football supporters in stadiums and at home have been kept in the dark about how controversial refereeing decisions have been reached. But at last the curtain has been pulled to one side and we can finally see the inner workings of the process. It was fascinating viewing.

Webb in his previous role at Proref in the United States, where

Major League Soccer was one of the first leagues to introduce video assistant referee, built a reputation of excellent communication with the stakeholders in the game.

Howard and his Var manager, Greg Barkey, operated a weekly review show of key decisions which helped to convince stakeholders in the game that technology improves the decisionmaking process.

Last night we were able to see and listen in on various scenarios and gain an understanding of the

process of the Var, the assistant and the replay operator and the communication that takes place between them and the on-field referee to review a decision.

I have been saying for a long time that the bewilderment fans in stadiums often feel will continue unless a change is made by the lawmakers – Ifab and Fifa – to allow live broadcast of the process.

The explanations from Howard in the show were clear and he was right to say that Var should produce maximum benefit with

minimum interference. Going public in this way was an astute move and we need to see a weekly review show here for Premier League games highlighting and examining Var decisions

Long term we need to convince Ifab and Fifa that live conversations should be allowed when the review process is taking place for the fans inside the stadiums. With Webb in charge of our referees, we will see improved standards of officiating in the future.