Hi there,
I'd like to consider myself a soccer fan, but as a relatively late-comer to the game and as an American who grew up on football and ice hockey, I've always wondered how soccer's limited substitution rules came to be.
Were substitutions a contentious issue within the FAs early in the game's history, or was there a strong consensus against subs? If so, what were their reasons? Did public opinion play a role?
Not a historian but i am a soccer fan:
Basically, soccer is an old sport and probably predated the idea of the tactical substitution. the term first appeared in use regarding soccer in the 1860s, but this was in regards to replacing players who didn't show up for the match, often with local amateurs. one of the earliest in match substitutions may have occurred in 1889, when sam gilliam replaced local amateur alf pugh at the 20th minute (he was covering for the no show starter himself).
officially, subs became a part of english soccer in 1965 when teams could name up to one sub to replace an injured player. two seasons later the sub could be used tactically. in 1992 when the premier league was formed we got the 3 subs rule we see today. i'm not sure how these rules spread from there, but i'd imagine once subs were allowed at the world cup the leagues followed suit.
this guy has a good article about it:
http://angryofislington.com/2012/05/02/history-of-substitutes-niall-quinn-record-breaker/
and of course the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitute_(association_football)