Premier League 2024/25 season rule changes

A series of new rule changes have been announced by the Premier League ahead of the 2024/25 season.

We take a look at each of these changes and examine how they could affect football in England's top flight in the season ahead.

Subs warming up

This season, the number of substitutes allowed to warm up at the same time at the side of the pitch has been increased from three to five players per team.

This change is aligned with the fact that teams are able to make five substitutions per match.

Multiball system

The Premier League will use the multiball system in the 2024/25 season, with 15 balls used to speed up the play.

When the ball goes out and is not quickly retrievable, players can go to the nearest cone off the pitch and collect a replacement to restart play swiftly.

A new tweak this year allows ball assistants positioned behind the goals to return the ball quickly to goalkeepers to restart play.

More accurate added time calculation

From now on, when goals are scored match officials will only start adding on extra time after 30 seconds following the goal.

This will allow for a natural period of celebration for the scoring team and enable both sets of players to return to their restart positions.

A significant drop in the allocation of added time may be notable this season as a result of this change in the rules.

Changes to Laws of the Game

There have also been some changes to the Laws of the Game set forward by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

These changes are as follows:

Law 12 on Fouls and Misconduct

Non-deliberate handball offences for which penalties are awarded should be treated in the same way as fouls in which there is a deliberate attempt to play the ball.

Therefore, a yellow card will not automatically be shown for handball offences resulting in penalty awards.

Law 14 - The Penalty Kick

When penalty takers place the ball on the spot prior to taking their kick, part of the ball must be touching or overhanging the centre of the mark.

Encroachment in the penalty area will now only be penalised if it has an impact on the outcome of the kick, using the same rule as the encroachment of goalkeepers.

Therefore, defenders will only be penalised for encroachment if the player directly impacts the kicker or in the event the ball rebounds to them and they prevent a goalscoring chance.

For attackers, encroachment will only be penalised if the player directly impacts or distracts the goalkeeper, or scores or creates a chance from a rebound.