This year, the NWSL debuted a new process by which players/staff who can show consecutive matches without a card can have their total card count toward an accumulation suspension reduced. 

For players, after five yellow cards the next match will have to be missed due to an accumulation suspension. Now, if a player is able to go five consecutive matches without a yellow card, red card, or any supplemental discipline, their total yellow card count towards the five card suspension will be reduced. 

Players can have a yellow card deducted a maximum of three times per season and they must have been subbed in by the 80th minute or start and play at least 10:00 minutes for the match to count towards the consecutive games. At no point can players or staff have a yellow card total go below zero. 

For technical staff, only three cards will have them serving a yellow card suspension and they need 10 games consecutively without a card or supplemental discipline. With only 26 regular season matches, staff can only have their yellow card total deducted twice a season. 

How it’s been going

After Matchday 9 (where Gotham and Portland have had an extra match due to scheduling with the Concacaf W Champions Cup), there have been 112 players who have been carded this season, and four head coaches. 

Of those 112 players, 40 players (almost 36%) have earned a yellow card reduction, with only three of the 40 players being carded in the next available game and only an additional two players have been carded after more than one game after their reduction. 

Only 5 of the 45 players who reached the ⅘ consecutive matches and played the fifth game were carded in what could’ve been their reduction game, an 89% success rate if they can get to that point. 

None of the staff members with cards have seen a reduction yet, Jonas Eidevall currently leads  the pack with 7 out of his 10 needed matches. 

With or without the reduction, no players would’ve had enough cards up to this point to earn the suspension. Only two players currently have four yellows—neither of whom have had a reduction yet—although Jaelin Howell would’ve also been on accumulation warning (4 yellows) if not for her reduction back in April. 

All the Data