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VAR: Sky Sports survey with YouGov results in full

North-West region encompassing Liverpool, Everton, Man Utd, Man City and Burnley is most dissatisfied with Stockley Park

Fans holding up signs in protest against VAR during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Crystal Palace at Etihad Stadium on January 18, 2020 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)

Football fans aren't happy with VAR in its current form, according to a YouGov poll. Here, we present the results in full...

One in 25 fans believe VAR has worked 'very well'

YouGov surveyed 1,419 supporters across Great Britain to find out how the nation feels about VAR this season and handed Sky Sports exclusive access to the data.

The results reveal just one in 25 fans believe VAR has worked 'very well' and one in four thinks the technology has 'worked well'.

Another 26 per cent said VAR has worked 'very badly' and 34 per cent 'fairly badly', with remaining respondents voting neutrally or unsure.

Football fans in North-West particularly unhappy with VAR

Across Great Britain, the North-West region - home to both Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Everton and Burnley - is most dissatisfied with VAR, where 35 per cent voted it has worked 'very badly'.

Fans in Yorkshire (34 per cent) and the West Midlands (32 per cent) also emerged as leading complainants but anti-VAR sentiments were far less extreme in Scotland (17 per cent) and London (18 per cent).

VAR graded 4/10 on average by fans

Former Premier League referee Neil Swarbrick graded the new technology seven out of 10 for how well it has worked so far in an interview last year, but only 10 per cent of football fans agreed with that assessment.

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In fact, an equal measure voted zero out of 10 in our poll - defined as a 'complete failure' - while the most popular rating in the poll was just three out of 10 (15 per cent) and only two per cent graded it 10 for 'working perfectly'.

Keep VAR but make changes, say fans

So why are most fans dissatisfied with VAR? Nearly seven out of 10 felt it made watching games less enjoyable, while the minority, closer to one in 10, believed it had actually made matches more enjoyable.

But, despite the convincing vote of no confidence, 74 per cent of fans would actually keep VAR but implement changes and only 15 per cent want to scrap it entirely.

What changes, though? Well, encouraging on-field referees to use the pitch-side monitor proved most popular with 52 per cent in 'strong support'.

Fans seeing VAR video footage in real-time also proved popular (49 per cent), followed by hearing conversations between VAR and the on-field referee (43 per cent) and a time limit on VAR decisions (42 per cent).

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