Premier League clubs have voted to return to a maximum of three substitutes and seven players on the bench for next season.
The vote of the 20 clubs at their virtual summer meeting is understood to have demonstrated the divisions that exist.
While the top half of the league backed Chelsea proposals to continue to allow five substitutes from a bench of nine, they fell well short of the required two thirds majority.
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Instead, the opposition to the proposal, led by Aston Villa, was joined by the teams in the lower half of the table.
Indeed, a majority of the clubs voted against the five sub plan, with a 10-10 tie on the proposal to stick with the larger bench.
Of the promoted trio, Leeds are understood to have backed retaining a bench of nine but joined fellow new boys West Brom and Fulham in rejecting five replacements being allowed.
Under League rules, 14 votes must be in favour of any rule change for it to be adopted and the outcome shows how things have changed in the past two months.
When Chelsea initially proposed both rules – following FIFA’s lead – in June, they were both passed by 16 votes to four.
But Villa Manager Dean Smith’s public comments and claims that having more options benefitted the Big Six in particular appears to have struck a chord with other clubs, including those who initially backed the proposals.
SunSport also understands that there was no vote on scrapping VAR, despite indications from West Ham that they were minded to table such a proposal.
