Palace used four substitution windows in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Everton, one more than the rules allow, with referee Megan Wilson’s team standing down.
The Women’s Super League (WSL) has opened an investigation into Crystal Palace after the newly promoted club used four substitution windows in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Everton, one more than its rules allow.
Jo Potter’s side made changes in the 62nd, 83rd and 90th minutes before the manager sent on forward Kirsty Howat in the seventh minute of stoppage time, a fourth stoppage in a competition that limits teams to three.
Palace stayed within the five-substitute maximum but split those changes across one window too many, with Howat coming on while the Eagles were already protecting Lexi Lloyd-Smith’s first-half goal.
The league confirmed the breach in a statement, saying Palace had taken a fourth substitution opportunity during a fourth stoppage, and that it would look into the matter with both clubs and Pro Ref, the refereeing body previously known as the PGMOL, before issuing an update. Everton’s defeat came under new manager Scott Phelan, who signed nine players over the summer.
WSL officials stood down
Referee Megan Wilson and her team have been withdrawn from the coming round of WSL and WSL 2 fixtures while the review runs, according to The Athletic, with the weekend’s appointments due to be confirmed on Monday afternoon.
Counting substitution windows falls to the match officials as well as the benches, and Pro Ref, which oversees officiating across the Premier League, EFL, WSL and FA Cup, forms part of the investigation.
WSL rules prescribe no set punishment for a substitution breach, leaving any sanction to an independent tribunal that could hand down anything from a warning or fine to a points deduction.
Palace’s case rests on the number of windows used rather than the number of players, with the club having led throughout the second half. Both clubs have been contacted for comment.
Precedent in domestic cups
Comparable breaches in English football have tended to arrive in knockout ties, and have brought a replay or a fine rather than a reversed result, though none matches Palace’s exactly, each having involved an extra or ineligible player rather than an extra window.
The FA ordered Exeter City to restage their FA Cup first-round tie at Bradford City in November 2021 after Matt Taylor’s team used a sixth substitute, one too many, in a 3-0 win after extra time; the mistake surfaced only on the referee’s teamsheet, Bradford having also been turned down for a sixth change of their own.
Grimsby Town were fined £20,000, half of it suspended, in September 2025 for fielding an ineligible player in their Carabao Cup shootout win over Manchester United, having registered Clarke Oduor a minute after the noon deadline and reported it themselves the next day. The EFL accepted the error was not deliberate and let the 12-11 result stand, and United did not appeal.
