Starting 11 and subs.

[ReallyRef?]

I've had a game recently where the home team started with only 9 players. Away team said if wouldn't have chased the table leader would have matched their numbers, so started with 11 players.

At some point in the second half after a couple of faked injuries, home team ended up with 7 players, looking to fake another injury and a player trying to get sent off so the game could be abandoned. He "escaped" with a caution and I have managed to see the game's end of 90 mins.

Final score, 0-17...

Nothing I couldn't handle throughout the game, but definitely one game I hated to be in the middle.

Finished with only one caution, but 3 weeks later the home club contested that they played a player with the name I put through (no teams sheets provided). The player gave me a name, the coach/manager confirmed after the game, the name was found on the WGS...
Funny fact; I've misspelled the name and the player corrected me!

Was asked by County FA to check my notes and confirm again the name, which I did. Ultimately will come to the point of having to identify the player from photo, if the club persists with that.
The player plays regularly so shouldn't be to hard to put a face to a name or viceversa.
Cannot wait that to happen. Most likely I was given a fake name, player maybe being suspended and using one of his mates name.

 

[RustyRef]

This used to be a bigger problem before rolling subs. If players were running late they would start named subs, but unless they informed the referee those late players weren't named as subs and therefore couldn't come on. Especially without teamsheets, as the referee and ARs would have no record of their names whatsoever.

 

[RobOda]

Hypothetically if I had to send off a player from the away team and the manager wanted to bring one of his subs on so they could continue playing with 10 instead of 9, would this would be allowed?

Noooo?

A partial question like this was raised as a trick question two years ago.

If the player isn't on the field, you cannot actually 'sub' them. As a substitute requires a player to leave the FOP (not by dismissal) and be replaced.



Now, if you withdrew a player (with the permission of the referee) at the start of a game, and then that named starting player was to 'request permission to re-enter' the field after that dismissal had happened, then yes, that's fine.

But no subs!


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In case anyone is wondering; The trick question was;

A team lists 11 players and 3 subs on the team-sheet. They start with 10 as a player is running late.

At 30 minutes in, the player has informed the team they are not turning up. The team request to substitute the named player for a name sub. Is this permitted?

I, and most people in the room answered 'yes' and we were told it's 'no', for the above reasons.