Leeds United's Premier League rivals vote against new substitution rule but top flight may trial concussion laws

A fresh attempt to allow Premier League teams to make five substitutions per match this season has failed.

A number of top-flight managers, including Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, have said the increase – which has been widely adopted in other competitions – is essential to protect player welfare amid a fixture schedule made even more congested by the coronavirus pandemic.

But the Premier League says it failed to achieve the required 14-club majority in a vote at a shareholders’ meeting on Thursday.

There have been two previous votes on allowing five substitutes this season which have also failed to gain a sufficient majority, after clubs did agree to make the change for the conclusion of the 2019-20 season last summer.

The clubs have agreed to increase the number of substitutes allowed on the bench from seven to nine, which was the case for the end of the 2019-20 campaign as well.

The Premier League also announced it would apply to the game’s law-making body, the International Football Association Board, to take part in a concussion substitute trial.

The protocol the Premier League has expressed an interest in allows each team to make up to two additional permanent substitutions in the event of a concussion, with the opposition allowed to make the same number of extra changes.

It could be introduced into the competition as early as next month, the league said. The league’s medical working group will meet on Friday to further consider the protocols.

The Football Association plans to introduce the same concussion protocols into the men’s and women’s FA Cups, the Women’s Super League and the Women’s Championship.