New referees, ‘pioneering’ kits and Robin Hood: Premier League is back

Sold at the time as a short-term Covid welfare measure, it was never going to be permanent – because a permanent change would favour the rich clubs, and that’s not what the Premier League is about. So here we are then, two years later, with a new permanent five subs rule – up to five changes made at three points in the game, plus half-time, from nine options on the bench. Backers say it brings England into line with other top leagues and is a neater answer to player fatigue than cutting the (lucrative) fixture list; critics say it means more talent hoarding and fewer shocks – with big clubs having an in-play safety net if they go behind to a minnow. One obvious upside, though: fewer antsy press conferences devoted to the subject.

Mike Dean, Kevin Friend, Jon Moss and Martin Atkinson are gone, giving more game-time to last year’s intake, Jarred Gillett, John Brooks, Michael Salisbury and Tony Harrington. The EFL referee Tom Bramall steps up, as do the assistants Natalie Aspinall, Nick Greenhalgh and Steve Meredith. Also benefiting from the changes is @therealMikedean, US hip hop producer and Kanye collaborator, who can spend less time facing down haters on Twitter: “I’m not a reff”; “wrong mike dean”; “soccer is wack”; “I AM NOT A SOCCER REFF U LIMEY … DO YOUR RESEARCH.”

Six weeks wintering in Qatar mean a different flow to the season: the earliest ever Premier League start (5 August, beating 1999’s 7 August), no international break in October but one in September, a Boxing Day resumption but no traditional 28/29 December game, more midweek action and, excluding Covid delays, the latest ever last day of the season (28 May). Then there’s a June FA Cup final.

Nike unveiled the new Nike Premier League Flight in June, made of