Premier League | What's new for 2024/25? | West Ham United F.C.

As the new Premier League season gets underway this weekend, we take a look at a handful of changes and additions to the rules and regulations...

A slight tweak is that from this season, the number of substitutes allowed to warm up at the same time on the perimeter of the pitch during a match has gone up from three to five players per team.

This is to correspond with the fact that teams are able to make five substitutions at any one time. 

As before, the Premier League will practice the multiball system in 2024/25, with 15 balls in use to speed up the game.

When the match ball goes out of play and is not quickly retrievable, players must go to the nearest cone to collect a replacement ball themselves to restart play.  

Ball assistants are not permitted to return a ball to a player but should return it to a vacant cone.

But from this season, an exception to this rule has been introduced in that the ball assistants positioned behind the goals at the end where the ball goes out are allowed to return a ball to the goalkeeper who will take the restart.

It remains the case that a club’s technical area staff who deliberately delay the restart of play by holding on to the ball, kicking the ball away etc. will be sent off. Any players who do the same in the technical area will receive a yellow card.

From this season, when a goal is scored, match officials will only start adding time on to the end of the match when the delay between the goal and the subsequent kick-off exceeds 30 seconds. This will allow natural time for both teams to resume their restart positions after each goal.

Given that there were 3.28 goals scored per match last season on average, this change may result in a significant drop in stoppage time this season.

For the first time, the @PLMatchCentre X account will provide near-live explainers and updates on operational and officiating matters for every Premier League match.

The account will post factual explanations of on-pitch refereeing decisions and the involvement of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), including the role of technology in the decision-making process.

In the absence of live VAR audio being broadcast, as it is not permitted in football, the Premier League Match Centre will be able to relay on social media near-live information from the VAR Hub during a game.

Premier League Match Centre – based at Stockley Park – is the operational hub of the league that helps with the smooth running of matchday operations of the competition. It is linked into all 20 Premier League stadiums, the VAR Hub and broadcast partners around the world.

Firstly, in Law 12 on fouls and misconduct, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) have tweaked it so that non-deliberate handball offences for which penalties are awarded are to be sanctioned in the same way as fouls which are an attempt to play the ball or challenge for the ball.

In short, referees will not automatically show a yellow card to players who have handled the ball and conceded a penalty.

Then around the penalty kick itself, or Law 14, a couple of changes have been made.

Firstly, there is a clarification that when the penalty-taker places the ball, part of the ball must touch or overhang the centre of the penalty mark. Secondly, encroachment by players at the moment the penalty is taken will be penalised only if it has an impact, following the same philosophy as goalkeeper encroachment at a kick.