Footballers Who Play Twice a Week Risk Damage

Amateur footballers who play once or twice a week risk mild brain damage caused by heading the ball, say British psychologists.
Richard Stephens of Keele University says that '25 amateur student footballers performed less well on tests of memory, attention and mental agility than players of other contact sports. Players who headed the ball frequently during games also achieved lower test scores than players who made headers less often'.

"The effects were fairly mild -- but the footballers were significantly slower and less accurate than the non-footballers," Stephens says.

Being punched by a boxer and heading a ball can involve the same forces. "During a header the brain moves forwards and backwards in the skull. But if a player flicks his head, it can also move side to side," he says. "These movements can cause damage in a variety of areas."

Stephens is calling for more research to evaluate the risk of playing football to occasional, as well as professional, players.

Vulnerable lobes
The frontal and occipital lobes of the brain are most vulnerable during a header. The football players' poorer performance on the tests is consistent with damage to these areas, says Stephens.

Padded helmets may help reduce any damage caused by the brain moving backwards and forwards in the skull. "But the brain is fairly robust when it comes to these linear movements," Stephens says. "The real difficulty is the rotational acceleration caused by a player flicking their head."

The team is now studying schoolchildren, to investigate whether heading the ball can cause neurological problems in even very young football players.

Other research into the effects of frequent headers on professional players is ongoing. Last May, the Scottish Professional Football Association called for professional footballers to register all head injuries, after two former Celtic players blamed frequent headers for dementia developed later in life.

This research was presented at the British Psychological Society's Centenary Conference in Glasgow, UK.