Football Focus tests video technology

Was the experiment a success?... Football Focus Sat 10 Mar, from 1210 GMT

As the momentum behind the introduction of goal-line technology quickens - how close are we to potentially having all key decisions in a match decided by a video referee?

And would it be technically possible?

Those are the questions that BBC's Football Focus programme attempted to answer during last week's match between Watford and Charlton.

To see how a video referee in football would work, Focus installed facilities for the match, including two extra cameras for both goal-lines, to examine incidents from a variety of angles.

The part of the referee on the day was played by an observer on the television gantry, and when something happened on the pitch that he did not get a clear view of, he would radio the video referee.

That man was former top-flight referee Paul Harrison - who made decisions after watching replays in a television truck outside Vicarage Road.

It's a way forward - we could have easily relayed information back to the officials Referee Paul Harrison

Harrison was referred to on three occasions - twice to check if goals had been scored from an onside or offside position and once to see if Charlton keeper Scott Carson had carried the ball outside the penalty area.

These three incidents were decided upon in only 27 seconds, which would have caused minimal disruption to the flow of the match.

A further incident occurred when Harrison spotted some shirt-pulling in the area when watching a replay of an incident from the main coverage.

This decision to award a penalty however, would have taken two minutes to decide.

Harrison said: "I think it's a way forward. It was within seconds when we realised what happened in the majority of incidents and we could have easily relayed that back to the officials."

Former Premiership referee Jeff Winter is not so sure. Speaking in 2006 he said: "I think people who scream out for video technology don't actually think how it would affect the game.

"There is always controversy. If you take away all those talking points, it would turn out to be very, very boring."

As things stand, with the International Football Association Board (IFAB) giving the go-ahead for the development of goal-line technology at a meeting in Manchester on 3 March, it must surely only be a matter of time before we see that in action.

And if that move proves a success, it could well open the floodgates for football to join rugby league, rugby union and cricket to allow a number of decisions to be taken by video referees.

Was Football Focus's experiment a success? Judge for yourself this Saturday at 1210 GMT on BBC ONE.