TY - JOUR

T1 - Injuries in youth football and the relationship to player maturation

T2 - An analysis of time-loss injuries during four seasons in an English elite male football academy

AU - Light, Neil

AU - Johnson, Adam

AU - Williams, Stuart

AU - Smith, Neal

AU - Hale, Beverley

AU - Thorborg, Kristian

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science In Sports published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - A better insight into injuries in elite-youth football may inform prevention strategies. The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to investigate the frequency, incidence, and pattern of time-loss injuries in an elite male football academy, exploring injuries in relation to age and maturation status. Across four consecutive playing seasons, playing exposure and injuries to all academy players (U’9 to U’21) were recorded by club medical staff. Maturation status at the time of injury was also calculated for players competing in U’13 to U’16 aged squads. Time-loss injury occurrence and maturation status at time of injury were the main outcome measures. A total of 603 time-loss injuries were recorded, from 190 different players. Playing exposure was 229 317 hours resulting in an overall injury rate of 2.4 p/1000 h, ranging from 0.7 p/1000 h (U’11) to 4.8 p/1000 h (U’21). Most injuries were traumatic in mechanism (73%). The most common injury location was the thigh (23%), and the most common injury type was muscle injury (29%) combining to provide the most common injury diagnosis; thigh muscle injury (17%). In U’13-U’16 players, a higher number of injuries to early-maturing players were observed in U’13-U’14 players, while more injuries to U’15-U’16 players occurred when classed as “on-time” in maturity status. Maturation status did not statistically relate to injury pattern; however, knee bone (not-fracture) injuries peaked in U’13 players while hip/groin muscle injuries peaked in U’15 players.

AB - A better insight into injuries in elite-youth football may inform prevention strategies. The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to investigate the frequency, incidence, and pattern of time-loss injuries in an elite male football academy, exploring injuries in relation to age and maturation status. Across four consecutive playing seasons, playing exposure and injuries to all academy players (U’9 to U’21) were recorded by club medical staff. Maturation status at the time of injury was also calculated for players competing in U’13 to U’16 aged squads. Time-loss injury occurrence and maturation status at time of injury were the main outcome measures. A total of 603 time-loss injuries were recorded, from 190 different players. Playing exposure was 229 317 hours resulting in an overall injury rate of 2.4 p/1000 h, ranging from 0.7 p/1000 h (U’11) to 4.8 p/1000 h (U’21). Most injuries were traumatic in mechanism (73%). The most common injury location was the thigh (23%), and the most common injury type was muscle injury (29%) combining to provide the most common injury diagnosis; thigh muscle injury (17%). In U’13-U’16 players, a higher number of injuries to early-maturing players were observed in U’13-U’14 players, while more injuries to U’15-U’16 players occurred when classed as “on-time” in maturity status. Maturation status did not statistically relate to injury pattern; however, knee bone (not-fracture) injuries peaked in U’13 players while hip/groin muscle injuries peaked in U’15 players.

KW - academy

KW - epidemiology

KW - football

KW - incidence

KW - injury

KW - maturation

KW - youth

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102028049&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/sms.13933

DO - 10.1111/sms.13933

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33560529

AN - SCOPUS:85102028049

VL - 31

SP - 1324

EP - 1334

JO - Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports

JF - Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports

SN - 0905-7188

IS - 6

ER -