Heading in football matches: descriptive analysis of heading events from 687 matches across age groups in English Academy and First Team men’s professional football
This is the first published study to report heading rates across an entire elite, men's football pathway. The findings support data-informed decisions regarding heading exposure in elite male footballers and provide valuable insights for those preparing players for the demands of the elite game at different age levels. Unintended head impacts during heading events occurred more frequently in senior players. Further research is needed to understand the variability in heading exposure throughout an individual player's development pathway and any potential clinical ramifications.
Authors
- Michael Brownlow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7708-4032)
- Ian Varley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3607-8921)
- Bradley Sprouse
- Antonio Belli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3211-9933)
- Dominic Townsend (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0242-3213)
- Mike Hughes
- Matthew Green
- Paddy Riley
- Gill Myburgh
- Arron Ackerman
- David Taylor
- Sameer Patel
Institutions
- The Football Association (GB)
- Fédération Internationale de Football Association (CH)
- University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- University of Bath (GB)
- Nottingham Trent University (GB)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-110804
- Primary Topic
- Traumatic Brain Injury Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00