Spidercam to make Premier League debut at Manchester United vs Liverpool

What's the story?

The Premier League will see the debut of the ‘Spidercam’ in the game between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford this weekend.

“A game as big as Manchester United against Liverpool feels like the right time to use it for the first time in a fixture. It is one of the biggest games in world football and the intention is to get the viewer closer to the game, which is what this technology enables,” said Sky Sports head of football Gary Hughes in conversation with Sports Mail.

In case you didn’t know...

The Spidercam has been used in the Champions League and Club World Cup and now the Premier League is following their lead by introducing it in England for the first time for this crunch tie. The technology has been used in Tennis and Cricket before with a rare mishap of India’s captain Virat Kohli hitting the camera in an ODI against Australia last year.

The football world is just adopting the technology and Sky Sports are fairly confident that it will not interfere with the game with the camera retreating to the height of the stadium during goal-kicks and when the keeper is in possession of the ball.

The heart of the matter

The Spidercam will be used for the first time in Premier League history at the Manchester United vs Liverpool game at Old Trafford. It is a camera suspended above the pitch with the help of four wires emanating from each corner of the ground, which will be manoeuvred by an operator who will capture the action on the pitch from a birds-eye view between 10 to 40 meters above the pitch – hence the name ‘Spidercam’.

Gary Hughes of Sky Sports pointed out that “It will mostly come into its own at set-pieces, like free-kicks, corners or penalties” and that it will give viewers “the fullest view looking down directly on what is happening”. He also pointed out that he thinks it will become a big tool in analysis as well.

What next?

To get a birds-eye view of the game sounds certainly very interesting. This is the first game that the camera will be used in, so the pros and cons of it are yet to be known. But many football fans are excited to view the game from a height and a different angle that will surely enhance the overall viewing experience.

Sportskeeda’s take

For the world of football, embracing technology has come along with sharp criticism. However, the Spidercam looks harmless and seems like it will surely spice up the viewing of the game with never before seen angles and shots of the game coming in during the live broadcast.

Its full range of ability can only be reviewed after a few games but it will surely give a valuable insight on the positioning of players during the game and during set-pieces. It’s a very laudable and bold move by Sky Sports and is a sign of how football must slowly integrate more technology into the game.