THE Football Association have given the green light to rolling substitutions in all adult football leagues below Step 7 from next season.
The governing body has been given approval from the International Football Association Board following a three-year trial that has seen 255 leagues carry out the experiment.
The FA say the ‘repeat substitutions’ pilot success increased participation levels with over 180,000 players involved since they tried out the idea which allows teams to make full use of unlimited changes. They will still only be able to use three of their replacement players.
Leagues are not being forced to implement the idea – and there are suggestions that some have already rejected the chance.
An FA statement confirmed: “Recurrent feedback from the pilot highlighted that repeat subs helped teams retain players by giving previously peripheral players more game time, improved the management of injured players and was idea for the transition of former youth players into open age football.
“This very positive decision for grass-roots football couldn’t have been achieved without the leagues that participated in the pilot and on that basis, the FA would like to register its thanks to all the leagues that carried out the trial.”
