Research suggests female footballers are two to six times more likely to suffer ACL injuries than their male counterparts.
England captain Leah Williamson missed the 2023 Women’s World Cup with an ACL injury, after former Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas was ruled out of Euro 2022 with the same injury.
Arsenal’s Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema, as well as Chelsea’s Sam Kerr have also suffered ACL injuries recently.
Dr Stacey Emmonds, an expert in Sports Performance at Leeds Beckett University says the injury rates are “consistent” with previous seasons, but because of the growing professionalisation of the game, we should expect a decline in the numbers.
Previous research has largely focused on physiological factors including menstrual cycles, football boots and body position.
But Emmonds believes the “narrative” around female ACL injuries can be misleading.
“We know a lot of the language [says] some of these risk factors are inherent to females and suggests that we just need to accept that – but we know they can be influenced,” said Emmonds.
“For example, we know from a younger age girls receive less strength and conditioning training – that underpins reducing some of the injury risks.
“We know there is research looking at neuromuscular programmes. [This is] not being explored in female athletes. There’s a need for broad research and we feel one of the biggest things is the environmental factors in the women’s game.”
