Substitutions.

During the summer break I was running a coaching session for young umpires. As we watched a game we observed that substituted players were not leaving the field of play before his replacement has left the pitch. On one occasion, a player was sent on to join in the attack while the player who was being substituted was on the far side in a defensive position and had to run the width of the pitch before his team was back to 11 players.

A clear breach of rule 2.3.c. & f. and I quote c) “ A substitution of a player is permitted only after that player has left the field”.
f) “Field players must leave or enter the field for substitution purposes within 3 meters of the centre-line on a side of the field agreed with the umpires”.

In this incident the young umpires and I had observed was a clear and deliberate breach of both these two rules and could have resulted in a yellow card for the captain of the offending team, as the new player was actively involved in playing the ball while the substituted player was still on the field of play.

Players and Coaches need to watch their substitutions more closely otherwise the captain may find himself in a difficult situation with the umpire(s)

In a second game I observed this summer, both teams appeared to consist of 16 players of which 11 started the game, with a number of substitutions taking place during the first half. However, early in the second half one of the goalkeepers received a yellow card having been previously warned in the first half about his sliding tackles. The umpire insisted that the game should recommence once the goalkeeper was off the field of play. There was no goalkeeper kitted up within the 5 remaining players in the dugout so the goalkeepers helmet was handed to an outfield player who went in goal.

It took about 6 or 7 minutes before a kitted up goalkeeper could be substituted. The umpire was quite correct in demanding that the game should not be delayed while a replacement goalkeeper was putting on the goalkeepers kit. A kitted up replacement goalkeeper should have been in the squad of 16, but I never see a replacement goalkeeper in the squad other than in representative games.

A couple of interesting incidents I observed this summer

Peter Bell
Level 1 Umpire Coach

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Photo copyright Andy Smith