The Football Association Injury and Illness Surveillance Study: The Incidence, Burden and Severity of Injuries and Illness in Men’s and Women’s International Football

Abstract

Objectives To determine the incidence and characteristics of injury and illness in English men’s and women’s senior and youth international football. Methods Time-loss injuries and illnesses, alongside match and training exposure, were collected across 8 seasons (2012–2020) in youth (U15, U16, U17, U18, U19) and senior (U20, U21, U23, senior) English men’s and women’s international teams. Analysis of incidence, burden, and severity of injury and illness was completed. Sex-specific comparisons were made between the senior and youth groups, and across the 8 seasons of data collection. Results In men’s international football, 535 injuries were recorded (216 senior; 319 youth) during 73,326 h of exposure. Overall, match injury incidence (31.1 ± 10.8 injuries/1000 h) and burden (454.0 ± 195.9 d absent/1000 h) were greater than training injury incidence (4.0 ± 1.0 injuries/1000 h) and burden (51.0 ± 21.8 d absent/1000 h) (both P < 0.001). In women’s international football, 503 injuries were recorded (senior: 177; youth: 326) during 80,766 h of exposure and match injury incidence (27.6 ± 11.3 injuries/1000 h) and burden (506.7 ± 350.2 days absent/1000 h) were greater than training injury incidence (5.1 ± 1.8 injuries/1000 h) and burden (87.6 ± 32.8 days absent/1000 h) (both P < 0.001). In women’s international football, a group × season interaction was observed for training injury incidence (P = 0.021), with the senior group recording a greater training injury incidence during the 2015–2016 season compared to the youth group (14.4 vs 5.7 injuries/1000 h; P = 0.022). There was no difference in injury severity between match and training for men’s (P = 0.965) and women’s (P = 0.064) international football. Conclusions The findings provide a comprehensive examination of injury and illness in English men’s and women’s senior and youth international football. Practitioners will be able to benchmark their team’s injury and illness incidence and characteristics to the match-play and training information provided in the present study.

Functional and Anthropometrical Screening Test among High Performance Female Football Players: A Descriptive Study with Injury Incidence Analysis, the Basque Female Football Cohort (BFFC) Study

“…Another study performed among female first division female football players reported a similar match injury incidence (19.0 per 1000 h) but a slightly lower number of injuries during training exposures (1.7 per 1000 h) [10]. Regarding injury burden, the results in the present research are partially in accordance with those previously reported in the literature by Sprouse et al [63]. While the authors reported injury burdens of 538.1 and 69.6 days of absence due to injury per 1000 h exposure to matches and training, respectively, among senior English international female football players, we found in the present investigation similar training (63.4 vs. 69.6) but greater match injury burden recordings (1440 vs. 538.1).…”

“…Currently, there is a growing body of knowledge with respect to injury incidence descriptions among female football players [2,5,63,64]. It is known that female players suffer from a lower injury incidence but a greater injury burden due to their increased risk for severe articular injuries such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture [1].…”

Hamstring‐and‐lower‐back flexibility is not related to hamstring‐and‐lower‐back injuries in elite female soccer players

“…In our opinion, this can be considered as a logical response to the difference between the amount of exposure. Sprouse et al have also reported match exposure to be a risk factor for these injuries in women's international soccer 28 …”

Football-related injuries are the major reason for the career end of professional male football players

“…Football is the most common type of sports worldwide and is associated with a high incidence of injuries [1,2]. Many studies have analysed injury patterns with regard to the different activity levels or training vs. match [1][2][3]. Overall, professional football players have a high risk of sustaining injuries [1,4].…”

“…Overall, professional football players have a high risk of sustaining injuries [ 1 , 4 ]. Most injuries occur during matches and affect the lower extremities [ 1 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]. Besides the consecutive time loss [ 7 ], the negative effect on team performance [ 5 ], and the possible long-term consequences, such as an increased risk of osteoarthritis [ 8 ], football-related injuries may influence a player’s career and quality of life [ 5 ].…”