@article{ref1,
title="Injury incidence and injury patterns in professional football - the UEFA injury study",
journal="British journal of sports medicine",
year="2011",
author="Ekstrand, J. and Hagglund, M. and Walden, M.",
volume="45",
number="7",
pages="553-558",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To study the injury characteristics in professional football (soccer) and to follow the variation of injury incidence during a match, during a season and over consecutive seasons. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study where teams were followed for seven consecutive seasons. Team medical staff recorded individual player exposure and time-loss injuries from 2001 to 2008. SETTING: European professional men's football. PARTICIPANTS: The first team squads of 23 teams selected by UEFA as belonging to the 50 best European teams. Main outcome measurement: Injury incidence. RESULTS: 4,483 injuries occurred during 566,000 hours of exposure, giving an injury incidence of 8.0 injuries/1,000 hours. The injury incidence during matches was higher than in training (27.5 v 4.1, p<0.0001). A player sustained on average 2.0 injuries per season and a team with typically 25 players can thus expect about 50 injuries each season. The single most common injury subtype was thigh strain, representing 17% of all injuries. Re-injuries constituted 12% of all injuries and they caused longer absences than non re-injuries (24 v 18 days, p<0.0001). The incidence of match injuries showed an increasing injury tendency over time in both the first and second halves (p<0.0001). Traumatic injuries and hamstring strains were more frequent during the competitive season, while overuse injuries were common during the pre-season. Training and match injury incidences were stable over the period with no significant differences between seasons. CONCLUSIONS: The training and match injury incidences were stable over seven seasons. The risk of injury increased with time in each half of matches.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0306-3674",
doi="10.1136/bjsm.2009.060582",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2009.060582"
}