Former English Premier League referee Martin Atkinson is to take over as VAR manager at the Scottish FA.

The 53-year-old will take up the post in early December and is replacing Jon Moss, who left after 52 days to become head of referees at Football Australia.

Atkinson was an official in England’s top flight for 20 years and refereed the 2015 Europa League final.

He will leave his role as select group manager at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to begin work alongside SFA head of refereeing Willie Collum.

“I am delighted to appoint someone of Martin’s calibre,” said Collum. “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.”

Kella was the winner of the second series of Channel Four’s talent show, The Piano. His debut single, Eve & Frank, is out now.

The 23-year-old self-taught classical pianist only started playing the instrument aged 13 and, before he turned to music, he was football-mad.

Kella grew up in Bootle on Merseyside and says there was never any question over who he would support.

“My whole family were Liverpool fans,” he told BBC Sport. “So, I was brought up a Red too.

“My favourite players when I was growing up were Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard – that was my era.

“I was too young to remember Istanbul [Liverpool’s legendary Champions League triumph] properly. I can remember all the fireworks going off afterwards, but it is only a vague memory.

“The highlight for me is more recent – the Barcelona game where we got beat 3-0 at the Nou Camp but then they came to Anfield in the second leg and we thrashed them 4-0. It was an incredible night.

“From that team I loved Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk – he was a massive standout at the back and is arguably the best defender in the world – but that whole team under Jurgen Klopp was just ridiculously good.”

Kella was invited to play at Anfield’s Legends Lounge before Liverpool’s first game of the season against Brentford, when he opened the club’s new trophy room and was given a signed shirt by legendary striker Ian Rush.

“That was just unbelievable,” Kella added. “But when I was there, I was speaking to a few people in there about Arne Slot, and how he had such big shoes to fill.

“I could not imagine anything more daunting than taking Klopp’s job straight after he left, but Slot has absolutely smashed it out of the park.

“We are not just winning games, either. The results have been great but we are playing good football too.”

Kella plays a lot less football himself these days but he was in action this week in a charity game at Bootle FC to raise money for Zoe’s Place, a baby hospice in West Derby which is at risk of closure because of a lack of funding.

“It’s massive for Liverpool that this facility stays open so the whole city is doing as much as possible to raise the funds,” he explained.

“I even wore blue on the day – never again, though!”

Chris Sutton and Brad Kella were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.

Kella was the winner of the second series of Channel Four’s talent show, The Piano. His debut single, Eve & Frank, is out now.

The 23-year-old self-taught classical pianist only started playing the instrument aged 13 and, before he turned to music, he was football-mad.

Kella grew up in Bootle on Merseyside and says there was never any question over who he would support.

“My whole family were Liverpool fans,” he told BBC Sport. “So, I was brought up a Red too.

“My favourite players when I was growing up were Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard – that was my era.

“I was too young to remember Istanbul [Liverpool’s legendary Champions League triumph] properly. I can remember all the fireworks going off afterwards, but it is only a vague memory.

“The highlight for me is more recent – the Barcelona game where we got beat 3-0 at the Nou Camp but then they came to Anfield in the second leg and we thrashed them 4-0. It was an incredible night.

“From that team I loved Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk – he was a massive standout at the back and is arguably the best defender in the world – but that whole team under Jurgen Klopp was just ridiculously good.”

Kella was invited to play at Anfield’s Legends Lounge before Liverpool’s first game of the season against Brentford, when he opened the club’s new trophy room and was given a signed shirt by legendary striker Ian Rush.

“That was just unbelievable,” Kella added. “But when I was there, I was speaking to a few people in there about Arne Slot, and how he had such big shoes to fill.

“I could not imagine anything more daunting than taking Klopp’s job straight after he left, but Slot has absolutely smashed it out of the park.

“We are not just winning games, either. The results have been great but we are playing good football too.”

Kella plays a lot less football himself these days but he was in action this week in a charity game at Bootle FC to raise money for Zoe’s Place, a baby hospice in West Derby which is at risk of closure because of a lack of funding.

“It’s massive for Liverpool that this facility stays open so the whole city is doing as much as possible to raise the funds,” he explained.

“I even wore blue on the day – never again, though!”

Chris Sutton and Brad Kella were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.

Video Details

Things move fast in the world of professional sports. 

Not even a day after the 2024 season came to an end, with the Dodgers winning the World Series over the Yankees 4-1, it’s time to turn the page to free agency.

And the biggest free agent on the market is Yankees superstar Juan Soto.

During the Yankees’ postseason run, Soto hit four home runs and totaled nine RBIs in 14 games. 

Who will next acquire Soto’s services? Let’s take a look at the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of Oct. 31.

Juan Soto next team:

Yankees: -225 (bet $10 to win $14.44 total)
Mets: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Dodgers: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Blue Jays: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Cubs: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Giants: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Red Sox: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Nationals: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Mariners: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Padres: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)

Soto is a four-time All-Star and twice was named to the All-MLB first team. He played for the Washington Nationals from 2018-2021 and part of 2022, before being traded to the San Diego Padres, where he finished the 2022 season and played a full season in 2023. 

Soto was once again traded, this time to the Yankees, and he’s spent the last two seasons in New York.

Over the last two seasons, he’s hit 76 home runs and amassed 218 RBIs. He was walked more than any other player in the major leagues in 2023, and in 2024, he led the American League in runs.

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