History of Substitutes: Niall Quinn – record breaker?

The first substitutes during football matches were used in the qualifying tournament for the 1954 World Cup, with the very first being
Horst Eckel of Germany in their match against Saarland (who?) on October11, 1953. The history of substitutions in domestic English football started slightly later, and goes like this:

From the 1965-66 season, teams could use one named substitute to replace an injured player
From the 1967-68 season, teams could use one named substitute for any reason
From the 1986-87 season, teams could use up to two named substitutes for any reason in League Cup and FA Cup matches only, still one in the League
From the 1987-88 season, teams could use up to two named substitutes for any reason in League matches
In 1992 the Premier League was formed, and at that point the rules diverged slightly from Football League rules:

Premiership / Premier League

From the 1992-93 season, teams could name three substitutes, one of whom had to be a goalkeeper, and could use any two of them for any reason
From the 1994-95 season, teams could name and use up to three substitutes (one of whom could only be used to replace the goalkeeper) for any reason
From the 1995-96 season, teams could name and use up to three substitutes for any reason with no restriction on positions
From the 1996-97 season, teams could name up to five and use up to three substitutes for any reason
From the 2008-09 season, teams could name up to seven and use up to three substitutes for any reason

Football League

From the 1993-94 season, teams could name and use up to three substitutes (one of whom could only be used to replace the goalkeeper) for any reason
From the 1995-96 season, teams could name and use up to three substitutes for any reason, with no restriction on positions
From the 1999-00 season, teams could name up to five and use up to three substitutes for any reason
From the 2009-10 season, teams could name up to seven and use up to three substitutes for any reason
From the 2011-12 season, the rule reverted to naming up to five and using up to three substitutes for any reason
When subs were first introduced to domestic football in 1965, Leeds always seemed to get an injury around the 70th minute. If they were losing, it was often a defender who was injured. If they were winning it was often an attacker. By reshuffling when their substitute was brought on they could attack or defend more, as needed. Needless to say, injured players always seemed to recover by the following game. This amazing string of coincidences in almost every match probably helped the League to realise that as long as the likes of Don Revie were involved in football, they may as well allow substitutions for any reason. Hence the original rule lasted only two years.

For the record, the first substitute in English football was Keith Peacock, who came on for Charlton on August 21, 1965, replacing his club’s injured goalkeeper after 11 minutes.

But what of Niall Quinn, record breaker? In 1987, the first season of two League substitutions, he came on for Arsenal against Southampton on November 21, 1987. Quinn replaced an injured Perry Groves, also after 11 minutes. Unfortunately, Quinn played badly. Very badly. I was there, I remember it well. After 77 minutes both the crowd and George Graham had had enough. George used his second substitute, Nigel Winterburn, to replace Quinn, who was definitely not injured. And so Quinn became the first Arsenal player to be substituted in the League after being brought on as a substitute, and the first in any competition to be subbed as a sub for poor play. Possibly Quinn was the first substitute in domestic English football to ever be substituted for playing badly.

Niall Quinn in his youth days.