The Premier League continues to make tweaks ahead of its return to play on June 17. Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images

Premier League confirm five substitutes for season restart

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Jun 4, 2020 1:38 PM ET

Unsurprisingly, it won't be business as usual on the pitch when the Premier League returns amid the coronavirus pandemic on June 17.

On Thursday, Miguel Delaney of The Independent and other outlets confirmed that the Premier League will increase the number of substitutes clubs can use during a match from three to five for the remainder of the campaign.

Clubs will also feature 20-man squads and increase the substitutes bench from seven to nine men to ease concerns regarding player fitness following a layoff that will have lasted roughly three months once games resume.

England suspended football operations throughout the country on March 13 due to the uncontrolled virus outbreak. Just as with the German Bundesliga, Premier League contests will occur behind closed doors and without spectators when the action resumes later this month.

Some supporters and observers have hit out at increasing the number of substitutes and claimed such in-season alterations tarnish the legitimacy of the competition.

Understand fitness concerns if PL clubs vote for 5 subs. But havingseen it in Bundesliga, it’s messy, disrupts rhythm of the game, changes nearly half the cast list , benefits bigger clubs with stronger squads, and is not how rest of season was played.
— Ian Darke (@IanDarke) June 1, 2020

ESPN's Ian Darke commented:

"Who benefits most from having five substitutes? The big clubs who've got about £100 million worth of players sitting on their bench.

"The rest of the competition was not played with five substitutes. The rest of the competition was played with three subs. Let's stick to that."

Earlier this week, clubs from the top-flight were presented guidelines for pre-restart friendlies ahead of the June 17 fixtures.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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