Substitutes in the olden days

[Solius]

I was looking at our all time appearance records and noticed how little substitutions seemed to happen in the past. Ryan Giggs has made 903 appearances for us, with 138 of them coming off the bench. In contrast, Alex Stepney made 539 appearances for us, and never once came off the bench. Bobby Charlton only came off the bench twice in 756 games. Bill Foulkes three times.

Why is this? What were subs like back then? Were we only allowed one or something? Or is it more a case of players just played every game then and the schedule wasn't so hectic?

 

[kietotheworld]

Substitutes weren't allowed until 1965 in English football . There also used to be a lot less allowed, as recently as the 1997 FA Cup Final there were only 3 players allowed on the bench.

 

[golden_blunder]

As far as i'm aware, 1 sub was the allocation back then

generally there was less rotation

 

[RyanGoggs]

With the intense pace of the game now, not all players can last the full 90 without facing a significant downturn in their performance levels. The margins between victory and defeat are so thin that a team needs players to perform at a consistent level throughout a whole match.

Also the tactical element of the game has come on leaps and bounds.

 

[scream]

Used to be 1 sub and only one named on the bench.
So if a player was injured, regardless of the position including the keeper, they were the only one allowed.

Far less rotation used. I seem to remember Liverpool won one league using only 15 or 17 players one season.

 

[eric le roi]

Used to be 0 subs, then it was 1 (literally 1 person) and they would only be used if someone got so injured they literally couldn't walk.

 

[JazzG]

The pressures on footballers now is far greater than it used to be, the game is played a lot higher tempo so you need to be fitter for a start so this is why rotation is essential in this day and age and squads are bigger.

Also with Giggs up until recently had very dodgy hamstrings so had to be very careful with him

 

[Cling Bak]

I was looking at our all time appearance records and noticed how little substitutions seemed to happen in the past. Ryan Giggs has made 903 appearances for us, with 138 of them coming off the bench. In contrast, Alex Stepney made 539 appearances for us, and never once came off the bench. Bobby Charlton only came off the bench twice in 756 games. Bill Foulkes three times.

Why is this? What were subs like back then? Were we only allowed one or something? Or is it more a case of players just played every game then and the schedule wasn't so hectic?

Stepney was a goalkeeper.

 

[Solius]

My bad.

 

[noodlehair]

There was no need for substitutes in the olden days as every single game was played on fastforward and ended with George Best scoring against Benfica.

 

[sully07]

Also the sub was most often a player that could do a job in several positions. They were used tactically as well as for injuries, Liverpool had the ginger 'super sub' fairclough who they used to use with 20 minutes to go in tight games and the fecker always seem to score. We had Mcreery who was not the best, rarely started a game.

 

[Collina]

Stepney was a goalkeeper.

To be fair to Solius: With Stepney's goalscoring record you would assume that he was a defender or something!

Stepney is a great man, by the way. Really enjoyed talking to him at Old Trafford a few years ago. He was a big fan of Rooney's work rate, "scousers don't usually like to work, do they?" he added.

 

[Denis' cuff]

Used to be 1 sub and only one named on the bench.
So if a player was injured, regardless of the position including the keeper, they were the only one allowed.

Far less rotation used. I seem to remember Liverpool won one league using only 15 or 17 players one season.

don't think it was as high as 17 - more like 14 or 15, I think. Maybe less. It was low even for that era and I reckon 17 would've been fairly normal. Would be interesting to know.

 

[Snow]

Just one of the reasons I don't like comparing records and such between then and now.

 

[Relevated]

To be fair to Solius: With Stepney's goalscoring record you would assume that he was a defender or something!

Stepney is a great man, by the way. Really enjoyed talking to him at Old Trafford a few years ago. He was a big fan of Rooney's work rate, "scousers don't usually like to work, do they?" he added.