Substitute (association Football) - History

History

The origin of football substitutes goes back to at least the early 1860s as part of English public school football games. The original use of the term "substitute" in football was to describe the replacement of players who failed to turn up for matches. For example, in 1863, a match reports states: "The Charterhouse eleven played a match in cloisters against some old Carthusians but in consequence of the non-appearance of some of those who were expected it was necessary to provide three substitutes. The substitution of absent players happened as early as the 1850s, for example from Eton College where the term "emergencies" is used Numerous references to players acting as a "substitute" occur in soccer matches in the mid-1860s where it is not indicated whether these were replacements of absent players or of players injured during the match.

The first use of a substitute in international football was on 15 April 1889, in the match between Wales and Scotland at Wrexham. Wales's original goalkeeper, Jim Trainer, failed to arrive; local amateur player, Alf Pugh, started the match and played for some twenty minutes, until the arrival of Sam Gillam, who took over from him.

As early as the qualifying phase for the 1954 World Cup, substitutions were permitted during games, the first ever replacement being Horst Eckel of Germany during their match with the Saarland on 11 October 1953.

Substitutions during matches in the English Football League were first permitted in the 1965-66 season. During the first two seasons after the law was introduced, each side was permitted only one substitution during a game. Moreover the substitute could only replace an injured player. From the 1967-68 season, this rule was relaxed to allow substitutions for tactical reasons.

On 21 August 1965, Keith Peacock of Charlton Athletic became the first substitute used in the Football League when he replaced injured goalkeeper Mike Rose eleven minutes into their away match against Bolton Wanderers. On the same day, Bobby Knox became the first ever substitute to score a goal when he scored for Barrow against Wrexham.

Archie Gemmill of St. Mirren was the first substitute to come on in a Scottish first-class match, on 13 August 1966 in a League Cup tie against Clyde when he replaced Jim Clunie after 23 minutes.

The first official substitute in a Scottish League match was Paul Conn for Queen's Park v. Albion Rovers in a Division 2 match on 24 August 1966. Previously, on 20 January 1917, a player called Morgan came on for the injured Morrison of Partick Thistle after 5 minutes against Rangers at Firhill, but this was an isolated case and the Scottish League did not authorise substitutes until 1966.

In later years, the number of substitutes permitted in Football League matches has gradually increased; at present each team is permitted to name either five or seven substitutes depending on the country and competition, of which a maximum of three may be used. In England, the Premier League increased the number of players on the bench to 5 in 1996, and it was announced that the number available on the bench would be 7 for the 2008-09 season.