ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2021
Football-related injuries are the major reason for the career end of professional male football players.
Article in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The majority of elite and professional athletes return to the preinjury level of activity after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- No clear association between time to return-to-play and first additional injury in European professional football players after ACL injury: A media-based study.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Towards High-Accuracy Athletic Injury Predictions Using a First-Principles Modelling Approach: Theory to (Future) Practice.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Clinical Outcomes Related to the After-Career Consultation in Retired Male Footballers.International journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Construction and validation of the indicator system for factors influencing pre-match tactical decision-making of volleyball coaches.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Beyond the Injury: A Case Report on Psychological Intervention During ACL Rehabilitation in a Professional Futsal Player.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- National Football League (NFL) "Dynamic Kickoff" Rule Change: A Comparative Analysis of Concussion and Musculoskeletal Injury Incidence.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Sport-specific differences in ACL injury, treatment and return to sports: Football.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Review
- Knee pain and function in retired male intercounty GAA players: an exploratory study.Irish journal of medical science · 2025Article
- Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden?Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Lower limb clinical osteoarthritis and its association with joint pain and function, and severe injuries and surgeries, in women professional football players: a cross-sectional observational study.South African journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Injury and illness prevention practices in Qatar's professional football clubs-implementation of the IP2 NetWork.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- Is Quality of Life a Reason Related to the Retirement of Professional Male Soccer Players?Translational sports medicine · 2025Article
- High Prevalence of Varus Knee Malalignment in Adolescent Football Players-Clinical Lower Leg Axis Measurements of Male Junior Football Players Aged 7 to 18 Years.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- [Complex knee injuries in football : Management from injury to return to competition].Orthopadie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Psychological Responses During Latter Rehabilitation and Return to Sport After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery.Journal of athletic training · 2024Article
- Soccer above all? Analysis of academic and vocational education among female soccer players in the German women's Bundesliga and 2nd women's Bundesliga.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- No difference in return to play rates between different elite sports after primary autograft ACL reconstruction.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2023Article
- Return to Play and Pattern of Injury After ACL Rupture in a Consecutive Series of Elite UEFA Soccer Players.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeLittle is known about the consequences of injuries on professional male football players' career and retirement period. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of injuries that male professional football players endure during their career, reasons for the end of their career and the post-career phase of retirement.
methodsIn a retrospective cross-sectional cohort study, retired male professional football players of the German Bundesliga were investigated by a standardised questionnaire to analyse the history of injuries sustained during their professional football career, the reasons for ending their career, their current health status and their suggestions for future prevention strategies.
resultsMost of the 116 analysed players (n = 73 (62.9%)) stated an injury as the reason for ending their professional career. Relevant injuries were mainly located in the lower extremities (n = 587 (61.3%)) with a focus on the knee (p < 0.001) and ankle (p < 0.001). A significant majority of the participants who had retired due to injury described degenerative symptoms, such as pain or instability, and were diagnosed with osteoarthritis after retirement (p < 0.001). These players had also often been affected by symptoms of depression during their career, which had decreased significantly after retirement. Moreover, players who had not retired due to injury had significantly better overall health status and quality of life after retirement.
conclusionFootball-related injuries have a significant impact on the career end of professional male football players and their health status after retirement. Future prevention strategies need to particularly address injuries to the knees and ankles and to implement measures for preventing osteoarthritis after retirement. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.
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