Referee Andrew Dallas reveals why he had to become full-time VAR - 'it was affecting my working life'

Andrew Dallas has revealed that a serious hip complaint has forced him to become a full-time VAR operator rather than an on-field referee.

Dallas, 40, and his fellow official Greg Aitken were appointed as Scottish football’s first dedicated VARs back in August and the whistler has revealed that injury made his decision to make the transfer from the pitch to Clydesdale House.

Speaking to the Scottish Sun, Dallas explained that the hip problem came to light when he was due to referee a match between St Mirren and Rangers in 2020. “My calf went during our warm-up, and when the St Mirren physio couldn’t get me going again David Dickinson did the game,” he said. “The next day I went to Ross Hall Hospital and there they tracked it back to a stress fracture in my hip – very similar to what Andy Murray had.

“The choice was laid before me - either I had a hip replacement or nine months rest. I was still relatively young and I didn’t want a hip replacement, so I took the rest option. I came back the following season and refereed a bunch of matches, about a dozen of them in the Premiership. But the recovery time after them was affecting my lifestyle and my mental health. I was limping on a Sunday, a Monday and a Tuesday, then I needed injections and painkillers to referee at the weekend.

Andrew Dallas has stepped away from being a referee on the pitch.

“In games I was never in discomfort because adrenalin took over. But eventually the surgeon told me the injections and painkillers were masking the pain - it was still there, I just wasn’t feeling it. So I’d be waking on a Sunday and Monday grumpy, and it was affecting my working life. So when the VAR thing came along and officials were training for it, my name was in that hat. It came to a stage where I said, ‘If I can be VAR that would be great’. So when I was asked at the end of last season to do it full-time, because the SFA were creating a category of dedicated VARs, it was a no-brainer.

“I’m finished with onfield refereeing, which is hard for me to say. To walk away from refereeing altogether if VAR hadn’t come in would’ve been really tough. I’d maybe have persevered for another season, but that wouldn’t have been fair on the clubs and it wouldn’t have been fair on the game. If I’m out on the pitch thinking something might go, it’s not fair. But being a dedicated VAR has allowed me to continue my career, which is brilliant.

“It’s let me remain at the top level and to be with my colleagues and friends. Walking away from that network would’ve been tough so VAR arrived at a really good time. I did 20 games as VAR last season and I’ve continued this term. Every ref wants to referee on the field of play. You’ll never replace that feeling of running out at Ibrox or Celtic Park or at an Edinburgh derby with the crowd. But this is the next best thing.”