[Football] Soccer's Unspoken Problem

BBassic · Jun 6, 2018

Yes I know, "soccer", don't shoot the messenger it's an American article.

Very good piece on concussions in football written by a bloke who's suffered four of them.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/alecko-eskandarian-soccer-concussions

Albion 4ever · Jun 6, 2018

A rather depressing read. I believe that there should be neutral doctors at every ground who would check out head injuries independently from club doctors and physios and their decision is final.
Obviously would not work at conference level and below, but at the highest level it should be in place.

Gwylan · Jun 6, 2018

Albion 4ever said:
A rather depressing read. I believe that there should be neutral doctors at every ground who would check out head injuries independently from club doctors and physios and their decision is final.
Obviously would not work at conference level and below, but at the highest level it should be in place.

I'm currently studying my level 2 coaching certificate in rugby and there's a mandatory module on concussion. The advice is that for any suspected concussion, get the player off the field immediately. If there's no doctor there, then get the player checked out ASAP, the feeling is that it's better to be safe than sorry. Clearly, at professional level there are doctors who can do an immediate HIA but that's not an option at most games, so just pull the player off.

studio150 · Jun 6, 2018

A well written and informative article.

As is mentioned above, a neutral doctor would remove any pressure on the player who has suffered concussion to stay on the field. Also if a player suffers concussion than there should be an additional substitute permitted again to ensure the player is removed from play.

Then the period of rest from both games and practice needs to be mandatory and set at a level that the medical profession set, with no exceptions.

RandyWanger · Jun 6, 2018

The NFL have a 'play smart, play safe' protocol in place which is pretty logical. Has a team doctor (who knows the player and the players history) and a neutral doctor. They review the play as all games are recorded and assess the player. If concussion is identified they're taken away into the dressing room. Large fines are handed out to teams who fail to follow this protocol.

BBassic · Jun 6, 2018

It does certainly seem that a neutral medical professional would go a long way to managing this. I read the article thinking how different the CL Final may have been if Karius had been forced off.

lost in london · Jun 6, 2018

It has surprised me recently how much attention concussion gets in rugby, but in football a player stands up, looks in the physios eyes for a few seconds for some kind of check up, then with a pat on the back and a few shakes of his head side to side he's back to playing again

GT49er · Jun 6, 2018

When I think back to the things we were required to head as 12 and 13 year olds (leather - wet, heavy and with laces, and on other occasions, basketballs - even heavier, I think, and certainly harder - hurt like hell) I sometimes wonder how any of us survived secondary education!

nickbrighton · Jun 6, 2018

GT49er said:
When I think back to the things we were required to head as 12 and 13 year olds (leather - wet, heavy and with laces, and on other occasions, basketballs - even heavier, I think, and certainly harder - hurt like hell) I sometimes wonder how any of us survived secondary education!

I believe a lot of players from the era of leather balls now have serious problems precisely due to repeatedly heading wet heavy leather footballs.

AmexRuislip · Jun 6, 2018

nickbrighton said:
I believe a lot of players from the era of leather balls now have serious problems precisely due to repeatedly heading wet heavy leather footballs.

Alan Shearer presented a program last year on the BBC, on this subject in regards to links to dementia.
Very interesting stuff.

Superphil · Jun 6, 2018

BBassic said:
Yes I know, "soccer", don't shoot the messenger it's an American article.

Very good piece on concussions in football written by a bloke who's suffered four of them.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/alecko-eskandarian-soccer-concussions

Soccer is a British word which was coined in the late 19th century to differentiate football from rugby, it’s a corruption of Association Football. The Americans use it to differentiate between what they call football and what we call football. Oddly enough, Soccer fans I know in the States insist on calling it football anyway. John Lees, former BBC Sussex sports presenter always called it Soccer, so no need to apologise, it’s a perfectly acceptable English term.

AZ Gull · Jun 6, 2018

Superphil said:
Soccer is a British word which was coined in the late 19th century to differentiate football from rugby, it’s a corruption of Association Football. The Americans use it to differentiate between what they call football and what we call football. Oddly enough, Soccer fans I know in the States insist on calling it football anyway. John Lees, former BBC Sussex sports presenter always called it Soccer, so no need to apologise, it’s a perfectly acceptable English term.

Indeed - the word has been in common parlance since long before most of us were born:-

drew · Jun 6, 2018

lost in london said:
It has surprised me recently how much attention concussion gets in rugby, but in football a player stands up, looks in the physios eyes for a few seconds for some kind of check up, then with a pat on the back and a few shakes of his head side to side he's back to playing again

I don't think it is quite as obvious as that I think you do a disservice to the medical staff at a club. Difficult to come up with any examples of players playing on against medical advice, possibly apart from the case involving Loris.

Harry Wilson's tackle · Jun 6, 2018

Yes, any hint of a head injury and it should be a crash team on and the player off to hospital.

In addition to saving some lads' health, it would also nip in the bud all that malarkey from players, who had their elbow touched, feigning a head injury.....

lost in london · Jun 7, 2018

drew said:
I don't think it is quite as obvious as that I think you do a disservice to the medical staff at a club. Difficult to come up with any examples of players playing on against medical advice, possibly apart from the case involving Loris.

No doing a disservice at all. Political pressure in rugby forced the medics to change their practices. Without the more recent draconian concussion protocols, the doctors / physios in rugby allowed (or were pressured into allowing) rugby players to play on after head injuries. I don't think it's a disservice to medical professionals in football to suggest that they might be behind the curve on this one, but they would need the FA to step in and introduce stricter rules to really change their practices I suspect.

Tyrone Biggums · Jun 7, 2018

lost in london said:
It has surprised me recently how much attention concussion gets in rugby, but in football a player stands up, looks in the physios eyes for a few seconds for some kind of check up, then with a pat on the back and a few shakes of his head side to side he's back to playing again

That's because so many of them fake injuries.

BBassic · Jun 7, 2018

Superphil said:
Soccer is a British word which was coined in the late 19th century to differentiate football from rugby, it’s a corruption of Association Football. The Americans use it to differentiate between what they call football and what we call football. Oddly enough, Soccer fans I know in the States insist on calling it football anyway. John Lees, former BBC Sussex sports presenter always called it Soccer, so no need to apologise, it’s a perfectly acceptable English term.

I did not know that, cheers :thumbsup:

Albion my Albion · Jun 7, 2018

GT49er said:
When I think back to the things we were required to head as 12 and 13 year olds (leather - wet, heavy and with laces, and on other occasions, basketballs - even heavier, I think, and certainly harder - hurt like hell) I sometimes wonder how any of us survived secondary education!

I think for many of us those head injuries have started to show in our responses on this message board. I'm sure many of us can match a silly or reckless bollocks response directly to a blow to the head while using a leather ball to play football and trying to head it into the goal.

Gritt23 · Jun 7, 2018

Superphil said:
Soccer is a British word which was coined in the late 19th century to differentiate football from rugby, it’s a corruption of Association Football. The Americans use it to differentiate between what they call football and what we call football. Oddly enough, Soccer fans I know in the States insist on calling it football anyway. John Lees, former BBC Sussex sports presenter always called it Soccer, so no need to apologise, it’s a perfectly acceptable English term.

Thank you! I sometimes think I'm the only person who knows this.

Also, I know a few Irish who play and watch Gaelic Football who refer to Association Football as Soccer for the same reason of differentiation.

rippleman · Jun 7, 2018

I see nothing wrong with adopting the rugby model for head injuries. Slightest hint of a concussion and off the player goes to get assessed by an independent doctor. If the doctor has any concerns whatsoever then the injured player cannot return.

You have a temporary substitute from the bench whilst the injured player is being assessed. If the doctor gives the injured player the ok to continue, then he replaces the temporary substitute.

So simple and easy to implement. It should only take those incompetent old blazers at the FA 12-15 years to make it happen!

Any scheme to protect players from potentially life changing injuries arising from head knocks / clashes can only be a good thing and should happen sooner rather than later.

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