Martin Atkinson appointed VAR Manager at SFA after Jon Moss departure

Former English Premier League referee Martin Atkinson has joined the Scottish FA as its new VAR Manager.

Atkinson will leave his role as Select Group Manager at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in early December to take up the post.

The 53-year-old officiated in England’s top flight for 20 years, accumulating the second-highest number of Premier League referee appointments with 463.

He was in charge of the 2011 FA Cup Final, the 2014 League Cup final, and the 2015 UEFA Europa League final.

Atkinson will now work alongside head of refereeing Willie Collum as VAR manager, replacing former referee Jon Moss who left to become head of referees at Football Australia.

Moss quit after less than two months in the position in September, the SFA announced.

Willie Collum said: “I am delighted to appoint someone of Martin’s calibre as VAR manager.

“I did not expect to be recruiting for that position again so quickly, but Jon received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and went with our best wishes.

“I am pleased Martin has agreed to continue the considerable work undertaken to date in optimising our VAR operation, and I’m sure our VAR officials and match officials generally will look forward to working with someone of Martin’s experience at Clydesdale House, as will I and the rest of my team.”

Martin Atkinson said: “I look forward to this exciting new challenge and have been impressed by the significant strides forward Scottish football has taken with VAR implementation since Willie arrived.

“I look forward to continuing that work and supporting Willie, the match officials and the team at the Scottish FA.”