Goal-line tech awaits: will this take away from the excitement?

With the introduction of goal-line technology, the typical Premier League season will never be the same - but we ask whether or not this will add or take away from the excitement of the game.

There were two major candidates for the tender, Hawk-Eye versus GoalControl; and the Premier League selected Hawk-Eye. From the 2013-2014 season, the game will never be the same. A panel of selected decision makers decided overwhelmingly in favour of Hawk-Eye to win the rights to power Premier League goal-line technology.


It won't take you long to think of a moment where your team had been robbed of a crucial goal or penalty because of an official's error; in some cases your team could well have profited. All England fans will think back to the 2010 World Cup when Frank Lampard's clear goal against Germany - which was over 30cm over the line - was scrubbed off by the referee after the ball bounced out of the goal. Imagine how that game would've finished had the goal been given? Possibly not the drubbing that England received later on.


The Premier League has been considering such technology for many years. Since the days when Tottenham's then midfielder Pedro Mendes smashed the ball past Roy Carroll in the Manchester United goal, but the keeper palmed the ball out. It was a clear goal, but Mendes' strike wasn't given. Officials later take the brunt of the blame, and the idea is that such technology will be there to help assistants and referee's make crucial decisions at crucial times.


There still remains some uncertainty how this technology will be used. Will the referee have the right to use the technology at any point during the game? Does a team have a certain amount of quotas to use the video access to their benefit? Will extra injury time be added whilst the decisions are being referred to on video? It's going to be a crazy time and a lot of new things for armchair fans to learn.


In the last few days, we've seen some crucial decisions made in another sport, Cricket, during the Ashes series. During the crucial first test between England and Australia, one batsman refused to walk despite clearly being seen as being out. Such decisions added to the excitement for the fans, who later saw a similar repeat of the incident, this time in Australia's favour. It's decisions like that which makes sport so exciting.


The Hawk-Eye technology itself is impressive and incredibly accurate. The technology aims to be accurate to just a millimetre. A series of cameras, believed to be in total 12, are able to measure the position of the ball in relation to the goal, thus ensuring that when the ball is completely over the line, a decision can be given by the technology and directly to the referee. The referee would have a watch or some other way to receive messages from the technology.


It is also claimed that Hawk-Eye takes away from the need to pause the game for moments when those crucial decisions take place. The technology can send an instant alert to the referee, perhaps with a vibrating indicator or flashing light. That will assist the referee when making such a decision.


All of the top 20 Premier League teams voted in favour of adopting the technology.


So, will this take away from the excitement? I remember, as an Arsenal fan, seeing times when the technology could have taken away from the excitement. Imagine back to a few years ago, when Paul Peschisolido popped a header at Arsenal's goal and then goalkeeper David Seaman somehow managed to claw it from out of the net before it crossed the line. The fans knew there and then it was a world class save. Imagine though if Sheffield United would have had the ability to request video footage of the incident? It would have completely robbed from the excitement of the occasion for many.


"Football is fundamentally a simple game; whichever side scores most goals wins. So, when one is scored, or indeed not scored, and we have the ability through technology to definitively know whether the ball crossed the line we should absolutely use it," said Premier League chairman Richard Scudamore.


We will have to wait and see just how accurate this technology is and whether or not this will take away from the excitement, or maybe even add to it.