EFL clubs to vote on five subs proposal after Premier League rule change

Clubs in the English Football League (EFL) will formally vote on whether to re-introduce the five substitutes rule in the summer.

This week saw the Premier League announce that enough clubs had voted in favour of the rule being reverted to five permitted substitutions for it to be brought back. The league confirmed in a statement that teams would be allowed the extra changes from the start of the 2022-23 season. The rule had originally been used during the Project Restart return to football for the final rounds of the 2019/2020 season, which was heavily delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was then discontinued in the two campaigns following that, with top-flight teams reverting to three permitted changes per match.

A statement on Thursday said: "Premier League Shareholders met today and discussed a range of matters. Clubs agreed to change the rules relating to substitute players. From next season, clubs will be permitted to use five substitutions, to be made on three occasions during a match, with an additional opportunity at half-time. A total of nine substitutes can be named on the team sheet."

Now, the EFL have confirmed to Mirror Football that their clubs will vote on whether or not to re-introduce the rule for next season. The vote is expected to take place in the summer. Five substitutes are currently allowed in cup competitions such as the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, whilst the Champions League also allows five alterations to be made.

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However, the reintroduction to the top flight has divided opinion between those who feel it is beneficial to player welfare and those who feel it favours the clubs with deeper squads to choose from. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has long called for the rule to be re-introduced. Speaking on Friday, he said of the change: "Five subs is a must-have for the future. It should be now already but at least for the future because we have to make sure we give the players opportunity to save energy. Top news for football and for players.

"We all know the situation is nobody will step aside in any competition or country. So the players play more and with all we know, we try to help with recovery. No other sport has this for such a long period. I'm happy."

Others are still to be convinced though. Norwich City boss Dean Smith said: "For me, it doesn't matter whether I'm for or against it, the fact is we've voted four or five times for this. So how many times do you keep voting until somebody gets what they want. During Covid we changed to five subs and I was certainly for that with the amount of games that we were playing. Since then it seems to have been on the Premier League agenda every time they have a meeting. I think everybody knew it was going to get changed sooner or later."