When Olivia Rodrigo released Vampire in 2023, many theories were put forward as to who the song was about.
After watching Danny Welbeck score the winning goal for Brighton against Liverpool, I have a new one to throw into the mix – Rodrigo was referencing VAR for the way it has sucked the fun out of football.
With 57 minutes on the clock, the Albion retook the lead against the reigning Premier League champions. Potentially, a massive moment in Brighton's season to continue the turnaround in form which has had supporters going from worrying about getting dragged into the relegation battle to dreaming of Europe.
To the naked eye, it looked like the goal might have been offside. Welbeck and Jack Hinshelwood both had their doubts as they instantly looked at the assistant referee.
In the days before VAR, Brighton fans would have taken a quick glance themselves, spotted no flag and then gone ballistic with unbridled joy.
Not any more.
The celebrations around the Amex were half-muted. We learned a painful lesson when bodies were flying (or, as the kids call it these days, "absolute limbs") from a similar incident at Fulham in January when VAR ruled a Welbeck goal offside by a millimetre.
Nobody wanted to make that mistake again. And so Brighton players and fans reined in their emotions until given permission to partake in happiness by someone at Stockley Park watching a super-slow-motion replay with a ruler.
Unlike at Craven Cottage, the goal stood. And admittedly, the Welbeck celebration was worth waiting for. He leapfrogged 6ft 2in team-mate Lewis Dunk from a standing start in an astonishing feat of athleticism for a 35-year-old.
Welbeck going Olympic gymnast, however, was not enough to make up for the feeling Albion fans were denied the sort of spontaneous, unexpected moment of ecstasy which is why many of us fell in love with the sport in the first place.
Find more from Scott McCarthy at We Are Brighton
