Simon Hooper was tasked with addressing the home crowd at St James’ Park after Newcastle had an early goal ruled out against Arsenal.
The Magpies went into their Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg clash with a two-goal aggregate lead, having beaten the Gunners in the reverse fixture in north London.
Alexander Isak thought he had fired the hosts ahead within four minutes, finding the back of the net with a powerful finish to cap off a devastating counter-attack.
It was eventually chalked off, though, with replays showing that Isak was narrowly offside when the ball was played to him. Once it had been confirmed, Hooper was faced with the daunting task of announcing the decision to over 50,000 home fans.
Addressing the crowd, he said: “After review, the goalscorer [Isak] was in an offside position. The restart is an indirect free-kick for offside.”
The announcement was met with a deafening chorus of boos, prompting laughter from Sky Sports co-commentator Gary Neville.
The former England defender quipped: “It’s the first time I’ve seen it live and who would want to be a referee? If you want to make them even more unpopular, just let them announce a disallowed goal to the crowd.”
It was previously confirmed that referees would be making in-stadium announcements to explain VAR reviews for the remainder of the Carabao Cup, marking a first for English football.
The new system was debuted in the first-leg tie between Tottenham and Liverpool last month, when referee Stuart Attwell informed the crowd that a goal by Dominic Solanke had been ruled out for offside.
A similar process was trialled at the Women’s World Cup two years ago, with match officials addressing fans inside stadiums to paint a clearer picture of their decisions.
A statement from the EFL read: “The new pilot forms part of PGMOL’s broader commitment to transparency and embracing technological advancements for the benefit of match officials and fans.
“This latest pilot has the support of the EFL and follows earlier collaboration with PGMOL in 2018 to trial VAR in EFL competitions ahead of its introduction in the Premier League.”
