Arguably the biggest VAR mistake since the technology was introduced in the Premier League was Luis Diaz's legitimate goal being chalked off during Tottenham vs Liverpool

Darren England, the referee who was at the center of the VAR debacle that saw Luis Diaz's legitimate goal against Tottenham ruled out in October 2023, has spoken about the incident for the first time.

Now a Premier League regular again, England, 40, took charge of last season's FA Cup final between Manchester City and Chelsea. He was most recently in charge of Liverpool's penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup last week.

"Once I realized I'd made the error, it's a really difficult place to try to forget that and move on," England told BBC Sport. "I can't just physically stand up and walk out and leave it alone. A lot of resilience was needed — a lot of experience as well.

"The aftermath obviously was really difficult to deal with. It was challenging because it's the goldfish bowl of the Premier League. But when mistakes happen, then you're in the public eye, and criticism is inevitably going to come your way.

"That was difficult because it affected my family as well. We had people outside my girls' school, journalists and things like that. That then affects you not as a referee, but as a human being."

Following the Diaz mistake, when England got confused as to what the on-field decision was, and the lines of communication became mixed up, he was immediately dropped from games in the top flight.

It took three months before he got a Premier League appointment again and more than six months before he found himself back in the VAR room.

"I did a lot of work with a sports psychologist," England continued. "The support, not just from ProRef (formerly PGMOL) but more importantly family and friends, was really crucial.

"It's about perspective as well. There's a danger that we can think we're saving lives at times, but we also realize how important it is.

"I remained as focused as I could be, working hard, trusting myself, because for all that decision in the Liverpool-Tottenham game, I've made hundreds of other decisions that are correct.

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"If you want to go searching for good feedback on social media and you're listening to phone-ins, you probably won't find much.

"That can have an impact on how you perform on the field. I don't have social media; I made a decision not to. But other people have different preferences and I respect that as well.

"But you have to manage your time accordingly, to be aware that you can never really switch off from football."