How have body size, age, and the use of substitutes evolved in English professional football between the 6 seasons 1973–4, 1983–4, 1993–4 to 2023–4?

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that English professional football has changed substantially over the 6 seasons 1973–4, 1983–4, 1993–4 to 2023–4. The investment by satellite television has increased the financial rewards for success, leading to remarkable changes in the players’ fitness, body shape, age and risk of injury. The current aims of the study were to identify some of these changes such as the frequency of use of substitutes, players’ height, body mass, the reciprocal Ponderal index and age over the 6 seasons using data obtained from football year books. Results confirm that players continue to become taller and more linear identified using the reciprocal Ponderal index, a trend observed with goalkeepers and defenders rather than midfielders and attackers. The body mass of players has also declined over the past three decades. There has been a steady increase in the use of substitutes almost entirely due to frequent changes to the substitution rule, a trend where substitutes appear to be replacing defenders rather than midfielders or attackers. Successful teams also use less substitutes, preferring to play their first-choice players, compared with less successful teams. Players from successful teams remain consistently younger than players from less successful teams, a testament to the value of, and investment in, youth academies. In conclusion, top-flight teams continue to recruit taller and less heavy (ectomorphic) players, a trend that was only observed by successful teams in 2003 (the year of Arsenal's Invincibles) but is now recognised by all Premier League teams.