Injuries in Female Soccer Players Pre- Versus In-Season: Does this differ between senior and academy players?

Fettus, L (2025) Injuries in Female Soccer Players Pre- Versus In-Season: Does this differ between senior and academy players? Other thesis, LJMU.

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Abstract

The aim of this injury audit was to investigate the characteristics of injuries during pre- and in-season in women’s professional clubs and academies in England and Spain over two seasons.
Methods This prospective study included 305 female soccer players (12-43 years old) recruited from four soccer clubs/academies in England and Spain in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. The soccer clubs’ medical and sport science teams diagnosed injuries, while training and match hours were recorded via Global Positioning System or coaches’ records. Players were categorised into four squad groups according to their age/playing level: (i) Under 14s (U14s); (ii) U16s; (iii) U21s; and (iv) senior squads. Injury incidence rate (IIR, i.e. injuries per 1000h) and burden (i.e. IIR  days lost) were calculated for overall U14s and U16s squads and the U21s and SNR squads were compared between pre- and in-season, and between squad groups. Severity was reported number of days lost. Results Overall, 308 injuries were recorded from 419 player seasons. For the senior players, muscular IIR was higher during pre-season (2.17 [95% CI: 1.38-3.41] injuries/1000h) vs. in-season (1.06 [95% CI: 0.75-1.51] injuries/1000h; p<0.05). Similarly, thigh IIR was higher during pre-season (1.24 [95% CI: 0.67-2.28] injuries/1000h) vs. in-season (0.45 [95% CI: 0.26-0.77] injuries/1000h; p<0.05). Regarding the U21 players, ligament/tendon IIR was higher in pre-season (4.06 [95% CI: 1.15–14.39] injuries/1000h) vs. in-season (0.96 [95% CI: 0.43–2.14] injuries/1000h; p<0.05). A similar pattern was seen regarding knee IIR in pre-season (4.06 [95% CI: 1.02–16.24 injuries/1000h) vs. in-season (0.64 [95% CI: 0.24–1.71] injuries/1000h). Concerning the between age-group analyses, both IIR and burden tended to increase with advancing age for most injury types/locations but then decreased in the senior players. The quadriceps was most frequently injured muscle pre-season (66.7%), while the triceps surae was the most frequent muscular injury in-season (25.3%). Muscular injuries were most frequent in pre-season for the senior squads while ligament sprains were most frequent for the U21s, with the highest burden. During in-season, muscular and ligament injuries were most frequent across all squads with ligaments most burdensome. Conclusion Muscle and thigh IIR were higher in pre-season than in-season for the senior players, while knee and ligament/tendon IIR was higher in pre-season than in-season for the U21 players. Injury burden appeared to increase with advancing age but was lower in the senior squads compared to U21 and U16. This study highlights the need for demographic-specific strategies regarding injury prevention in pre-season vs. in-season, as well as according to age group.

Item Type:	Thesis (Other)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Soccer injuries, football injuries, pre-season, in-season injuries in female or women's football; Injury
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Date of acceptance:	11 August 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	10 September 2025
Date Deposited:	10 Sep 2025 15:19
Last Modified:	10 Sep 2025 15:20
DOI or ID number:	10.24377/LJMU.t.00026993
Supervisors:	Erskine, R, McQuilliam, S and Philipp, B
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26993

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