Substitutes have only outnumbered management on the bench for a few years; most people are surprised to learn that as recently as 1987, there'd only be one lonely 12th man there. Chris Rand looks at the history of the Ipswich substitute.
Few people under 50 realise that substitutes have only been permitted in English league football since the 1965/66 season, and even then just one was allowed, and only as a replacement for an injured player. The idea of a substitution for tactical reasons was introduced two years later, but there would still only be one player ‘on the bench'.
Ipswich Town used their substitute in nine of the 42 league matches in that first season. The club's first ever substitute appears to have been Dave Harper, who came on for Frank Brogan in the 2-0 away defeat to Charlton in the third match of the campaign. But it wouldn't be for another three seasons before the substitute became a regular sight for Ipswich, the 12th man being used in 24 of the 42 matches during 1968/69.
The idea of two substitutes didn't come along until 1987/88, and wasn't immediately used by managers. The first time an Ipswich side used two subs seems to have been the fifth match of that season, a 1-0 away defeat to Blackburn, when Tony Humes replaced Mich D'Avray and Ian Atkins took over from Nigel Gleghorn.
In 1995/96, the number of substitutes permitted was raised to three and Town wasted no time in trying out this new luxury in the first game of the new season, away at Barry Fry's Birmingham. Frank Yallop and Lee Chapman were brought on for Neil Thompson and John Wark, but then Yallop himself was taken off later in the game, to be replaced by Simon Milton. Town had scored first, but Birmingham won the match 3-1.
Three years later, in 1999/00, clubs were permitted to name five potential substitutes, although only use three, which resulted in a substitute goalkeeper becoming an almost permanent fixture on the bench for the first time. And this season, for the first time, the Football League will allow seven players on the bench, although again, only three can be used.
With multiple substitutions only available to managers in the last 20 years or so, it's not surprising that the players who've come off the bench for Ipswich the most number of times tend to be from recent seasons. The players listed below are the 25 players in the history of Ipswich Town who have made 25 or more appearances from the substitutes' bench. Six of them were with the club as recently as last Christmas (seven if you count Jim Magilton). Can you spot the link between them?
Richard Naylor (92 appearances)
Danny Haynes (78)
Pablo Counago (75)
Simon Milton (64)
Clive Woods (50)
Martijn Reuser (49)
James Scowcroft (44)
Kevin O'Callaghan (43)
Dean Bowditch (43)
Mick Stockwell (42)
Mich D'Avray (41)
Jermaine Wright (37)
Jim Magilton (30)
Mick Lambert (30)
Matt Richards (30)
Eric Gates (29)
Alun Armstrong (29)
Billy Clarke (29)
Chris Kiwomya (28)
Danny Sonner (28)
Fabian Wilnis (27)
Tommy Miller (27)
Neil Gregory (27)
Frank Yallop (26)
Robin Turner (26)