Last week in this column, I said there weren’t many Law changes to concern players or referees at most levels.
The major change is really a confirmation of something that started temporarily, during the pandemic, to allow more substitutes , as teams had to play more often in shorter periods of time.
There is an increase to five substitutes being allowed but it’s very limited. The revised law says it is only for the first teams in top divisions or senior A internationals, providing the competition rules allow.
It means of course, that ignoring the goalkeeper, who is seldom substituted, Premier League teams can now change half their players in a game. Teams are permitted to have up to 15 named substitutes to choose from, but the Premier League are only having nine.
The Laws on substitutions have always been a little complicated, as it is up to competitions to say how many substitutions may be made, but only up to a limit set by the International Football Association Board.
When substitutes were first allowed as an experiment in 1965, only two substitutions could be made and then only for injured players. Clubs soon got around that, by managers shouting out for players to limp when they wanted to replace them.
Not everyone agreed with their introduction. When the first substitute took the field at Arsenal, he was booed by a large number of spectators.
It wasn’t long before the injury requirement was discontinued and the number of possible substitutes increased to three where it has remained in most football.
This increase in the top levels of the game has bought a new phrase into the Laws of the Game, ‘Substitution opportunities’.
When the extra substitutes were allowed, the IFAB were concerned that this would lead to clubs using this as another opportunity to delay or break up the game.
So there are still only three opportunities during play when substitutes can be made, which is why you may see multiple substitutions at the same time.
However, if teams make substitutions during half time or between full time and extra time, that is not counted as a Substitution opportunity.
Also there are some competitions which allow an extra substitute if there is extra time, so they are allowed an extra Substitution opportunity.
It’s also worth remembering that in youth football, up to 12 substitutes can be allowed. The idea is to give as many youngsters as possible a chance to play.
