Substitute (association football)
replacement player in association football (soccer)
In association football, a substitute is a player who is brought on to the pitch during a match in exchange for an existing player who may be tired, injured, or performing poorly. There are also tactical reasons (such as bringing a striker on in place of a defender). A player who has been substituted during a match takes no further part in the game.
Substitutions were officially added to the Laws of the Game in 1958. Prior to this most games were played with no changes permitted at all, with occasional exceptions in cases of extreme injury or players not arriving to matches on time.
The number of substitutes has risen over time as well as the number of reserve players allowed to be nominated. It is now common for games to allow a maximum of five substitutions; some competitions allow for an additional substitution when playing extra time. A maximum of three "substitution opportunities" are provided to a side during normal time, and an extra opportunity during extra time. Substitutions can be made during half-time breaks during normal and extra time, and full time breaks (before the start of extra time), but do not count as substitution opportunities. There is also a provision of an additional substitution beyond whatever limits the match is being played under to be used specifically for a player who has sustained a concussion.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Substitute (association football)” as replacement player in association football (soccer). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as replacement player in association football (soccer). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16850936. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1958.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
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Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Substitute (association football)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Substitute (association football) primary sources, Substitute (association football) archive and Substitute research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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This entry incorporates text from “Substitute (association football)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.