Is that just in training though?
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Just mentioned on the radio that there is a meeting to be held this morning with a view to "restricting" the number of times players head the ball
Is that just in training though?
Dear God, the old Grangetown End of the late 60s/early 70s would be empty, it was full of headers!!
In all seriousness ,I do wonder if we are moving towards no balls above waist height as per the old 5 aside rule.
Seems extreme to so radically change the game but with the medical evidence seemingly confirming the link to brain injuries and the financial implications arising is there any other alternative?
Imagine if Derek Dooley’s family start a campaign against the injury that put him out of the game!
Game is quickly becoming a sanatised event , ironically in these self isolating sanatised times.
Surely the most likely outcome is not to ban heading but to introduce regular brain scans like they do in boxing. It would be a bit mad if you weren't allowed to head a football but, in another sport you could literally punch a man in the head for 12 rounds.
Don't ask me how that would work in the amateurs though
If true this is incredible. The powers that be have already virtually made it a non-contact sport now they want to take away one of the most fundamental parts of the game.
Yes, there are some sad cases of ex pros who have suffered through heading a ball, our own Keith Pontin, Nobby Stiles to name just a couple, but, without meaning to be disrespectful or make light of theirs and others' situations, what is the actual percentage of footballing people who have suffered from a direct result of playing football? I bet it is miniscule.
There are far more risky professions than footballers. The forces, bomb disposal teams, spies...
To me, as long as people are made aware of the risks when they put a pair of boots on, then it should be their choice to do so and not change the game to suit.
It does make one wonder what is driving this.
Is it insurance people, due to massive claims?
Is it a group of do-gooders intent on changing the game because of a small percentage of incidents?
If this is happening in football then there doesn't look like much of a future for rugby.
How many bumps to the head occur in a game just from tackling?
Touch and pass awaits.
The funny [perhaps ironic is the word] thing about longevity and sport is that professional sports people - ie, those that have been required to train hard and for consistently long periods from their teens into their 30's - are obviously fitter than the average person, yet on average have shorter lives. The heart is no different to an engine. It need constant running, but hammer it into the ground year in year out and it will wear out.
Todays footballs are as light as a feather. I really dont know what the fuss is about.
that's not true
Athletes live longer and remain healthier than other people.
It even comes into play with things like the dementia stats, part of the reason that a higher percentage of footballers develop dementia than the general population is that more of the general population die from other conditions before they've lived long enough to develop dementia.
*The evidence suggests that brain injuries in soccer players are more prevalent than those of their peers who didn't play the game.
**Despite studies and evidence dating back to the 1920's, football is lacking behind most sports on addressing head injuries, NFL and Rugby probably lead the way.
***True, the greatest risk is actually head to head injury.