How, When, and Where do Football Players get Injured?: a Descriptive Epidemiological Study on Male Professional Football Players in Spain for Four Seasons

Background. Sports injuries, in addition to the economic cost which they incur for football clubs, appear to be linked to a worse collective performance during the season. Objectives. The aim of this study was to determine the injury incidence in a professional football team during 4 consecutive seasons. Methods. A total of 109 football players aged about 25 ± 4 years, having experience in sports from 18 ± 5 years, were analysed based on the injuries which they suffered during the training sessions and competition. Based on the recommendations of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), the exact type, severity and duration of football injuries were reported. Results. A total of 251 injuries (62.7 injuries/season and 2.3 injuries/player) were recorded. The incidence during the competition (37.2 injuries/1000h) was higher than that obtained during the training sessions (3.95 injuries/1000h). The injuries of a muscular type were the ones which showed the highest injury incidence (53% - 3.3 injuries/1000h), where the posterior thigh (19.6%), the knee (18.3%) and the groin (17.4%) were the most frequently damaged zones. It was found that 14.4% of the injuries were relapses of injuries suffered previously. Conclusion. The injury incidence detected in Spanish players is within the normal range for professional football players. The highest frequency injury types are muscular injury, closely followed by joint injury. The variables of injury risk were undifferentiated by the level of competition, player´s age, position and time of occurrence (month).