The Debate: Enough is enough - it's time to bring in concussion subs

OK, I've complained about this a lot in the last ten years.

We've all seen it happen too often - a player gets what's clearly a serious head injury, and then plays on. Nobody in the ground seems to bat an eyelid at it, while the rest of us look on via a television screen, open-mouthed in horror as we see a footballer stagger around, not thinking or walking straight, and having no memory of the entire match afterwards.

New guidelines came in a few years ago that said there should be an independent physician in the tunnel who should be stepping in to remove concussed players from the field. And this fits in perfectly with the FA’s concussion protocols - anyone with a suspected concussion must be immediately removed from play, and must not be returned to activity that day.

That's because a concussion can have severe consequences - it's a brain injury, and that's bad, no matter how "fine" a player might insist on being. Physical activity while concussed increases the risk of suffering serious repercussions - and obviously another blow to the head would make things even worse.

So yes, the rules are correct - if someone is thought to be concussed, they need to stop playing immediately, and rest.

Teammates, coaches, match officials, team managers, administrators (and at junior level parents) who suspect someone may have concussion all have a duty to make sure this actually happens.

So many people have a responsibility to do this, the rules are clear, and nothing is ever done. Managers fret about being down to ten players while one receives treatment or a concussion check; players don’t want to let the side down.

So bring in concussion subs, like they have in rugby.

If someone takes a blow to the head, they can go straight off to get checked over properly.

And a substitute can replace them for however long is required – the whole game, if necessary.

There were proposals under discussion to bring in some kind of rule at the Olympics – with IFAB suggesting there would be one concussion substitute at each squad’s disposal. The idea behind that is to reassure a coach that they wouldn’t “lose” a substitute if they needed to replace a player with a head injury.

This doesn’t deal with the problem, though. The injured player will still pretend to be fine, not wanting to leave the match; physios may feel pressured to give a quick thumbs-up when it is not warranted because they do not want to tinker with a game plan.

Temporary concussion subs would go some way to fixing this.

If the player is not concussed, they can return to the fray, the sub can return to the sidelines.

If the player is concussed, quick medical attention can prove the difference.