Abstract
ObjectivesTo determine the incidence and characteristics of injury and illness in English men’s and women’s senior and youth international football.MethodsTime-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.ResultsIn 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.ConclusionsThe 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.
Highlights
Football is a high-intensity intermittent team sport that requires players to be physically capable of coping with high-intensity movements, including repeated changes of direction, sprints, and accelerations/decelerations, alongside complex and physically demanding technical actions [1, 2].Due to the nature of these activities, it is unsurprising that the incidence of injury and illness in professional footballSport Science Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UKThe Football Association, Burton‐Upon‐Trent, UK is high [3]
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)
Overall match injury incidence (31.1 ± 10.8 injuries per 1000 h) was higher in comparison to training injury incidence (4.0 ± 1.0 injuries per 1000 h), with no difference observed over 8 seasons and no event × season interaction (P = 0.230)
Summary
Football is a high-intensity intermittent team sport that requires players to be physically capable of coping with high-intensity movements, including repeated changes of direction, sprints, and accelerations/decelerations, alongside complex and physically demanding technical actions [1, 2].Due to the nature of these activities, it is unsurprising that the incidence of injury and illness in professional footballSport Science Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UKThe Football Association, Burton‐Upon‐Trent, UK is high [3]. Players may be at an increased risk of injury and illness due to the potentially unaccustomed nature of training and match-play compared to club football [4] and increased fixture congestion [5, 6]. A decrease in player availability as a result of injuries and illnesses has been shown to have a detrimental effect on team performance, and can cause economic adversity to clubs, international football organisations, and governing bodies [7, 8]. Before any attempt is made to introduce injury and illness preventative measures or interventions, it is important to understand the epidemiology of injuries and illnesses (incidence, burden, severity, cause, and onset) in the population
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
