Original research
Is injury the major cause of elite soccer players being unavailable to train and play during the competitive season?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2006.03.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Title

Is soccer-related injury the major cause of elite soccer players being unable to train and play during the competitive season?

Objectives

The aims of this study were to utilise comprehensive data to quantify the cost, in terms of loss of training and match availability, of all absences and to determine if injury is the major cause of absence.

Participants

All players (n=55) (Mean±SD; age, 24±5; height, 179 cm±9; weight, 82 kg±7.4) at an English Division One soccer club had their attendance and absence recorded on a comprehensive daily register throughout the two seasons 2003/2004 and 2004/2005. An absence was defined as an inability to train with the rest of the squad or play competitive first team matches irrespective of the cause.

Results

A total of 110 competitive matches and 287 squad training sessions were recorded generating 2604 and 10740 exposure hours, respectively. Individual absences totalled 378 for first team matches and 1441 for training sessions. Reportable injuries accounted for 49% of first team match unavailability and 60% of training sessions missed. Other health-related problems accounted for more than one in four and suspensions almost one in seven of missed matches.

Conclusions

Soccer-related injury is the major single factor affecting player availability. However, strategies to maximise player availability by targeting player discipline and general health initiatives may also be effective in reducing unavailability.

Introduction

The proportion of a professional soccer squad available for first team selection can be affected by numerous factors including injury, illness, suspension and personal circumstances. Important players, players in key playing positions or an accumulation of players being unavailable for selection can tax playing resources. Such unavailability of players is frequently blamed for unsuccessful performances (Bech, 2003; Doherty, 2003; Frost, 2002; West, 2003).

Injury is often cited as the major reason for player unavailability in professional soccer (Hawkins, Hulse, Wilkinson, Hodson, & Gibson, 2001; Rahnama, Reilly, & Lees, 2002; Witvrouw, Danneels, Asselman, D’Have, & Cambier, 2003), although no studies can be found to confirm this. There is a plethora of epidemiological studies that analyse injuries in elite (Junge, Dvorak, Graf-Baumann, & Peterson, 2004), amateur (Goga & Gongal, 2003), youth (Kakavelakis, Vlazakis, Vlahakis, & Charissi, 2003) and female (Engström, Johansson, & Törnvist, 1991) soccer players and report the effects of injuries on availability of players for team selection. These studies do not examine the effect of other factors on player availability choosing instead to determine the impact of soccer injuries in isolation. There appears therefore to be little, if any, current data that acknowledges the various reasons why soccer players may not be available for first team selection or to train with the rest of the squad. These reasons may include such diverse factors as non-soccer-related injuries, illness, suspensions, loan periods to other clubs, international call-ups and social and family related reasons. It is therefore not known whether injury is, in fact, the major cause of players being unavailable for training and playing.

This prospective study was performed to examine the incidence of reasons for all absences from training participation and competitive match availability at an English Division One club for the competitive seasons 2003/2004, 2004/2005. This data would quantify the cost, in terms of loss of training and match availability, of all absences and allow analysis of the significance of absence due to soccer-related injury to be determined. It may also highlight areas where comprehensive proactive initiatives could be developed that would minimise non-injury-related player absence and hence improve match availability.

Section snippets

Methods

The study was conducted over two competitive soccer seasons, 2003–2004 (S1) and 2004–2005 (S2) and was designed to document all absences from training and first team availability. Data were collected from the first to the final competitive match each season. All contracted professional players (Table 1) agreed, in writing in accordance with the institution's ethical procedures, to allow the use of their injury, physical activity and attendance data to be included in the present study. Each

Results

Where applicable, the two season's data are presented as: total (Season 03–04 (S1): Season 04–05 (S2)).

Discussion

This prospective study found that approximately half of the incidents of players being unavailable for first team selection can be attributed to reportable injuries using previously published criteria. It would therefore appear acceptable to acknowledge that injury is the major single factor affecting player availability. However, the current study has shown that injury reduction is not the only major factor in maximising player availability. It was found that suspensions, other injuries and

Conclusion

The current study confirmed that soccer-related injury is the major single factor affecting a player's availability for first team selection and training. It would appear that initiatives to help reduce the incidence, severity and recurrence of injuries may be able to play a key role in maximising player availability and warrant previous and future investigation. However, strategies to maximise player availability by targeting player discipline and general health initiatives may be effective in

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