News broke on Wednesday that clubs have discussed the idea of allowing six substitutes per team.
BBC Sport reports (see below) that informal discussions took place last week.
Many top clubs were in Rome, including some from the Premier League, for the general meeting of European football clubs.
When some clubs met for private discussions and allowed six substitutes per team, the idea of allowing senior teams of 28 players, instead of the current 25, was also mooted.
I’m not talking about you, but whenever I hear about proposed changes from clubs or governing bodies, I rarely think it sounds like a good idea.
There are already so many footballers who play little to no first-team football, so encouraging clubs to have even bigger squads is just stupid in my opinion.
As for allowing teams of six substitutes per match, I find that idea even more ridiculous. How can anyone think that having five subs isn’t enough???
It already bothers me during games, when teams make numerous changes, usually in the second half. When a team is winning, they can make three or even four substitutions at once, and this can take forever. They leave one by one, while I would have them hold all three boards up at the same time and those coming off have 15 seconds to get to the nearest point of the field (whatever happened to that rule???).
Like I said, it’s bad enough now, but imagine if you made twelve substitutions in the second half of a game, it would take forever.
BBC Sports report – October 15, 2025:
‘Europe’s top clubs, including some Premier League sides, have held discussions about using six substitutes per match to ease the workload on players.
Sides met at the European Football Clubs (EFC) General Meeting in Rome last week to discuss issues within the game.
It was not officially on the agenda, but clubs held informal, private discussions about using squads of 28 men – up from the current 25 – and six substitutes.
Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, among others, belonged to the Premier League in Italy.
Football’s regulators, the International Football Association Board (Ifab), would first have to recommend any changes, and it is unclear when any changes will be implemented.”
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