adminVAR Panel: Ipswich Benefitted from Two Errors During Premier League Campaign
A panel tasked with reviewing every VAR incident in the 2024/25 Premier League season has concluded that Ipswich Town were the beneficiaries of two key officiating mistakes.
The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel — consisting of three former players or coaches, a Premier League representative, and a member of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) — assessed controversial moments throughout the campaign. Of the 18 VAR errors identified last season (down from 31 in 2023/24), two occurred in Ipswich fixtures, with both decisions favouring the Blues.
The first incident occurred in December at Portman Road when Brighton were denied a penalty. The panel deemed that Ipswich winger Wes Burns fouled Jan Paul van Hecke in the box. The score was 0-0 at the time, though Brighton went on to win 2-0.
The second took place in May, when Brentford were not awarded a spot kick despite Axel Tuanzebe dragging Nathan Collins to the ground during a corner. The Bees were 1-0 ahead at the time, and that remained the final score.
Notably, the panel did not classify a controversial moment in Ipswich’s November clash with Leicester City as a VAR error. Conor Chaplin appeared to be barged over by Abdul Fatawu in the box, but no penalty was given and VAR did not intervene. Ipswich’s Kalvin Phillips was later sent off, and the match ended 1-1. The incident sparked anger from Town chairman Mark Ashton, who demanded a meeting with refereeing chief Howard Webb.
An independent review by ESPN, which only considered incidents involving overturned decisions by VAR (excluding situations like the Leicester appeal), produced the following stats for Ipswich:
VAR Overturns: 11
Leading to Goals For: 1
Disallowing Goals For: 0
Leading to Goals Against: 5
Disallowed Goals Against: 2
Net Goal Score: -2
Subjective Decisions For: 1
Subjective Decisions Against: 4
Net Subjective Score: -3
Penalties For/Against: 0 / 4
Red Cards For/Against: 0 / 1
Breakdown of Ipswich VAR Incidents:
Aug 24, Man City (A): Penalty awarded (scored by Haaland) after Leif Davis fouled Savinho – AGAINST
Oct 19, Everton (H): Penalty cancelled, no foul by Dwight McNeil on Jack Clarke – AGAINST
Oct 26, Brentford (A): Penalty awarded (scored by Mbeumo) after Harry Clarke fouled Lewis-Potter inside box – AGAINST
Nov 10, Tottenham (A): Dominic Solanke goal disallowed for handball – FOR
Dec 21, Newcastle (H): Alexander Isak goal allowed despite offside against Murphy – AGAINST
Dec 30, Chelsea (H): João Félix goal disallowed for offside – FOR
Jan 5, Fulham (A): Penalty awarded (scored by Jiménez) for Morsy’s foul on Wilson – AGAINST
Feb 26, Man United (A): Patrick Dorgu sent off for serious foul on Hutchinson – FOR
Apr 2, Bournemouth (A): Penalty overturned; foul by Tuanzebe ruled outside box – FOR
Apr 13, Chelsea (A): Ben Johnson goal allowed despite offside against Enciso – FOR
Apr 26, Newcastle (A): Penalty awarded (scored by Isak) after foul by Enciso on Murphy – AGAINST
With their return to the Championship for the 2025/26 season, Ipswich will now play without VAR. Manager Kieran McKenna welcomed the change, saying in May:
> “In its current form, it’s taking more from the game than it’s giving. We’re seeing play halted for several minutes over marginal calls that aren’t truly ‘clear and obvious’. It disrupts the experience for fans
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