Will the English FA ever allow seven subs?

evilhomer

I have seen this effect countless teams more and more recently, especially given the size of squad that you require for the premiership these days.

Every other major footballing country has seven subs.

I can see how maybe it would be a good idea in the lower divisions to keep wage bills etc low, but in the Premiership and Championship every team has at least 18 squad members. Some have 30+!

I see three problems with the rule as it stands.

1) With players becoming ever more specialised to particular positions it can be a real disadvantage if you don't have that "type" of player on the bench

2)Younger players find it extremly difficult to get any game time with the first team because they can't even get on the bench.
Imagine a Manager could have a young prospect on the bench and if things went well in the match he could be thrown on! He would develop quicker as a player and also get a bit of first team experience

3)One of your subs is always a Goalie (well almost always, unless you are Stuart Pearce). So really you only have 4 outfield players at your disposal.

I can't see any reason why you wouldn't allow seven subs in the modern game.

What do you all think? Will the English FA ever allow this?

eirebhoy

In the SPL you have 7 subs and 3 of the 18 players must be under the age of 21.

evilhomer

eirebhoy wrote:

In the SPL you have 7 subs and 3 of the 18 players must be under the age of 21.

That rule certainly seems to be paying off for the Scottish national team at the minute.