A player warming up, a name on a television graphic and a completed football substitution describe different stages. To know who is actually on the field, follow the change through to entry rather than treating an announced plan as a completed event.
This i8 Live guide offers a substitution-reading worksheet for MY English readers. Cedar FC's player numbers and the scenes below are fictional. They illustrate how to label a change without making an injury diagnosis, guessing a coach's intention or deciding a real match's administrative record.
Separate the bench, the announcement and the change
A bench list tells you who is listed as a substitute. It does not say that everybody listed will enter. Likewise, a warm-up image shows preparation, while a broadcast announcement may describe a planned change rather than its completion.
Our original worksheet uses a small set of status labels. These are plain-language notes, not official terms that every broadcaster or competition must use.
| What you observed | Not established |
|---|---|
| Name on bench list | Will enter |
| Player warming up | Change completed |
| Change board shown | Entry already happened |
| Player enters field | Reason for change |
This separation is particularly useful when a replay appears between the announcement and live play. An earlier graphic may stay in your memory after the pictures have moved to another moment.
Use the entry as the completion checkpoint
IFAB Law 3 describes the normal substitution process: the referee is informed, the departing player leaves, and the substitute enters during a stoppage with the referee's signal. It identifies entry onto the field as the point at which the substitution is completed.
For a viewing note, that gives you a concrete checkpoint. “The board appeared” describes an earlier event. “The substitute entered” describes the change in playing status. The two observations can be close together without being interchangeable.
Imagine Cedar plans to replace number 8 with number 18. The board is shown, the camera follows number 8 leaving, then it cuts to the bench. At that point your clip does not itself show number 18's entry. A later official event report can confirm the completed change, but your footage still has that gap.
The careful note would preserve both sources: “The clip shows the announced 8-to-18 change; the event report records it as completed.” It avoids claiming that a cutaway contains something it never shows.
Pair the incoming and outgoing player correctly
Several changes at one stoppage can make a compact graphic difficult to read. Do not pair every name with the nearest name on the screen unless the layout establishes that relationship. Identify the outgoing and incoming labels before copying the pairs.
In our invented second scene, Cedar changes 8 for 18 and 11 for 21. Record each pair on its own row. That preserves two relationships which a simple list of four shirt numbers would lose.
| Player change | Entry evidence |
|---|---|
| Cedar 8 to 18 | Confirmed |
| Cedar 11 to 21 | Not visible yet |
The second row is deliberately incomplete. Seeing one replacement enter does not prove the other entered in the same frame. If an official record later confirms both, update the note and keep the source of the confirmation clear.
This method is about event identity, not a claim about the permitted number of substitutions. Competition rules can affect the available changes and opportunities. Do not infer that limit from the two-row exercise.
A formation graphic does not explain the reason
An announced replacement can be followed by a new formation graphic or commentary about tactics. Treat the player change, the displayed formation and the suggested reason as separate information. One does not automatically prove the others.
For example, an invented report might show number 18 entering, then draw that player on the left of a midfield line. The first part records participation. The second is a depiction of position. Neither, on its own, establishes why the coach chose the change.
If a reason matters, use an attributed statement rather than diagnosing a player from the substitution. A change can have several possible explanations, and footage of a player leaving the field is not a medical finding.
Check current procedures without turning this into a quota guide
The 2026/27 Law 3 text includes a time-limited exit procedure, with exceptions and consequences described in the accompanying protocol. Reading a board and counting seconds from a television cut is not enough to adjudicate that complete procedure.
This guide therefore keeps its main task narrow: identify whether a change is proposed, announced or completed, and which players belong to it. For a dispute about timing, return eligibility or available changes, check the current competition conditions and full relevant provisions.
- Confirm the team and the source of the player list.
- Separate a warm-up or announcement from actual entry.
- Match each incoming player to the correct outgoing player.
- Mark camera cuts and unobserved steps.
- Use the official event record to resolve the completed change.
Include the period or match minute when your source provides it, but do not invent precision. A broadcast may display a rounded minute rather than an exact entry timestamp. Copy its granularity rather than adding seconds that were not reported.
Questions about substitution reports
Is a player warming up already part of the on-field team?
Warming up shows preparation. It does not itself establish that a substitution has been completed.
Does the board alone prove the change is finished?
No. The completion checkpoint described in Law 3 is the substitute's entry. A board shows an earlier step in the process.
Can I infer an injury from a substitution?
Not from that event alone. Keep any explanation attributed to a checked source rather than treating a player change as a diagnosis.
Does the example tell me how many changes a team can make?
No. It organises a fictional report. The applicable competition rules and procedures determine the actual limits.
Continue reading
Our added time and extra time guide helps identify the period attached to an event. For separating observations from conclusions in a match discussion, read the football forecasts and uncertainty guide.
Sources
- Law3: The Players,2026/27The IFAB · 2026-10-15
