New match day rules and protocols in place for season restart
- New rules for games in Sky Bet Championship restart
- Teams now allowed to make five substitutions, name nine subs
- Changes made to protect players’ welfare and safety
Sky Bet Championship football returns this weekend as Huddersfield Town host Wigan Athletic at the John Smith’s Stadium with several new match day rules and protocols in place.
The measures will be carried out on each match day for the remainder of the 2019/20 season to ensure the welfare of the players and staff is protected.
This includes each team’s match day squad size being increased from 18 players to 20, with both sides now able to make a total of five substitutions each across the 90 minutes.
However, managers can only make these changes at three points in the game. Teams can also make subs at half-time, with this not using any of their three allocated substitution opportunities.
As well as this, there will be drinks breaks midway through each half, in the 22nd and 67th minutes of the games, or as close to those points as possible.
In order to keep to social distancing guidelines, teams will enter the pitch at separate times prior to the start of games with no pre-match handshakes taking place.
During the matches, players and staff will sit further apart in the dugouts with a maximum of three substitutes allowed to warm-up on the sideline at any one time. Those in the dugouts will also not be permitted to wear face coverings.
