Two More Please!

Premier League managers are to have an extra two substitutes to pick from for the upcoming 2008/09 campaign, a decision that is sure to please managers and players alike across the country.

The history of football substitutes is a surprisingly active one, with many modifications to the laws since Horst Eckel stepped on for Germany in the autumn of 1953.

However, substitutions didn’t reach the British Isles until 12 years later, but unlike today just one substitution was permitted, which was used only in the event of injury. Two years later, the law was modified to allow for tactical substitutions too.

Unsurprisingly, as football has continuously evolved through the addition of foreign players and managers, attitudes have changed regarding substitutions. As a result in 1996, the newly-found Premier League announced there was to be a total of 5 substitutes on the bench, three of which were permitted to be used. Though this represented a huge change from the old, many still felt it prevented managers from taking substantial risks, as one of the five was almost exclusively used for a back-up keeper, leaving the rest of the squad to compete for just four places.

As opposed to previous generations, much emphasis is put on strength on depth in the modern game and often the most successful teams are those with the strongest squad. Indeed, throughout the years many a player has attained the nickname “super-sub” – ranging from David Fairclough in the hugely successful Liverpool team of the 1970’s, to more modern examples such as Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a hero of Old Trafford for his last minute goal against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League Final.

Consequently, it is no surprise to see that the Premier League have brought forth this ruling. The idea of seven substitutes was first brought to our attention by former Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Erickson. Speaking in November 2007, he argued:

"When you have, say 23 players, who are working hard, it is bad when you have to omit them on match day. Everyone wants to be on the pitch but it would help if we could change the rules on substitutes. If we could have seven players on the bench, it would be much better."

After Sven was axed from his position at Eastlands, he passed the baton onto Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, both of which continued to lobby for two additional substitutes. They argued that the new rulings would bring them into line with the rest of Europe, where seven subs are already in place. Similarly, teams competing in the UEFA Champions League are allocated seven substitutions.

Indeed, there is no doubting that this new ruling will provide many a chance to players that would otherwise be left out of the squad entirely. It will allow managers to be more experimental, and who knows, it could even benefit the national side, as young English players will have a better chance of making it into the squad.

Written by Aram Hekmat