English Premier League footballers will enjoy a mid-season break next winter, partly in an attempt to reduce injuries. Some say footballers have never had it so easy, but a study of player injuries confirms the modern game is increasingly taking its toll.
Ashley Jones at Leeds Beckett University in the UK and his colleagues tracked 243 players from 10 clubs across four of the divisions below the English Premier League in the 2015/16 season. They found players had an average of 1.9 injuries per player per season, compared to 1.3 in the 1997/98 and 1998/99 seasons combined 鈥� the last time a similar study was conducted.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a different game now,鈥� says Jones. 鈥淭wenty years ago you had footballers trying to be athletes. Now we have athletes who can play football.鈥�
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Today鈥檚 players run around , but recovery time has not increased. Lower league teams play a 46-game season, with additional cup competition matches.
It is no surprise that old injuries flare up more often, says Jones. Of the injuries the group tracked, 17 per cent were reoccurrences of an existing problem, up from 7 per cent in 1997-9. And 40 per cent of modern injuries were the result of repetitive stress and strain placed on players鈥� bodies over time.
Some things haven鈥檛 changed. The most common injury remains a hamstring strain. And problems tend to peak twice in the year: during winter and in the first few weeks of the season.
Coaches could be pushing players too hard and too early, says Jones. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not needed. These players don鈥檛 lose fitness in the summer like they used to.鈥�
Physical Therapy in Sport
