Heading in football

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E.T. Fairfax

E.T. Fairfax

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2012
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Co. Durham
I would suggest that the majority of damage to a footballers brain is caused by meeting the ball directly from a goalkeepers kick. Basically trying to head the ball back from whence it came. I remember as a kid, heading the ball direct from a goalkeepers kick, you didn't head it properly, frigging nacked. I know they are talking about avoiding kids having to head the ball. But surely the majority of any damaged caused will be the result of heading the ball playing professionally, regularly, as an adult. Which gets me thinking.....can anybody see a rule change, where the goalkeeper will be forced to have to pass the ball out. A short pass, a way to limit the number of times a player has to get his head onto an up and under? Or will players be forced to wear some sort of helmet, something light but something that would absorb enough of the impact.
 
Mr 55p said:
I would suggest that the majority of damage to a footballers brain is caused by meeting the ball directly from a goalkeepers kick. Basically trying to head the ball back from whence it came. I remember as a kid, heading the ball direct from a goalkeepers kick, you didn't head it properly, frigging nacked. I know they are talking about avoiding kids having to head the ball. But surely the majority of any damaged caused will be the result of heading the ball playing professionally, regularly, as an adult. Which gets me thinking.....can anybody see a rule change, where the goalkeeper will be forced to have to pass the ball out. A short pass, a way to limit the number of times a player has to get his head onto an up and under? Or will players be forced to wear some sort of helmet, something light but something that would absorb enough of the impact.
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The only problem is that a helmet doesn't stop the side to side and back to front movement of the brain which causes consussion/brain injuries, basically they only protect from fractures.

There was a big study done it a few years ago from memory.

The AFL out here plan on using smart mouthguards to monitor head injuries

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...d-smart-mouthguards-in-new-concussion-studies
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How much of a difference is there between todays balls and those of yesteryear though? They were heavy things back in the day, especially when wet. Modern day balls are light as owt compared to them so I would have thought less chance of harm off heading them.
 
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first time i headed a football it felt like a slab of concrete smashing off my head, not what i was expecting and not something i wanted to repeat...always wondered if it felt the same for everyone and if so, why the hell did we keep doing it.

as mentioned, we had a leather cased ball which also tended to be caked in dubbin back then but the water would still get in and increase the weight...can see it turning more into a five a side type game with nothing over shoulder height allowed.
 
samwise_new said:
first time i headed a football it felt like a slab of concrete smashing off my head, not what i was expecting and not something i wanted to repeat...always wondered if it felt the same for everyone and if so, why the hell did we keep doing it.

as mentioned, we had a leather cased ball which also tended to be caked in dubbin back then but the water would still get in and increase the weight...can see it turning more into a five a side type game with nothing over shoulder height allowed.
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I played at the SOL a few years back. My son had been nagged by me to head the ball for his u13s. He was in the stands and the ball came from a keepers kick. If he wasn’t there, I’d have “accidentally” misjudged the flight!!
 
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Not wanting to belittle the heading issue but there are a relatively small number of players throughout football including amateur who end up with a problem, it's a bit similar to the 70 or so who have developed blood clots out of the 20 million covid vacines.
There are literally thousands who play football on a weekly basis and we only hear of the few who end up with MN disease or other brain issues.
Not saying it's right to carry on regardless but it must be put into perspective.
 
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cumbrianmackem said:
Not wanting to belittle the heading issue but there are a relatively small number of players throughout football including amateur who end up with a problem, it's a bit similar to the 70 or so who have developed blood clots out of the 20 million covid vacines.
There are literally thousands who play football on a weekly basis and we only hear of the few who end up with MN disease or other brain issues.
Not saying it's right to carry on regardless but it must be put into perspective.
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I watch UFC and see folk regular elbowing and kicking each other to the head and some folk getting sparked clean out. Only ever seen a handful of football players knocked out and that's generally been off a clash of heads. As you say, very small risk compared to the numbers of folk who head a ball.
 
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Can understand why the old leather balls could potentially cause dementia but are the newer, lighter balls a problem? Guess we will only know in 20-30 years time.
 
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Speaking as a coach I cant envisage a world where heading remains a part of the game in 10 years time. All of the research is pointing one way.

In youth football guidance is not to allow heading in training sessions, only in matches. It has been like that for some time. Begs the question how they learn technique of course. Bournemouth went to no heading in training for junior teams before the FA guidance.

My sense is if we keep it away from training kids simply wont head the thing in matches. If they dont head it as kids they are less likely to head it as a adults. I therefore think in years to come it will be a much smaller part of the game and at that point it will be taken out officially.

When you really think about heading it is a bit daft. We tell kids to wear a helmet on a bike, we rush about when they bump their head, yet shout at them to head it when a ball comes out of the sky with snow on it. Kids skulls dont fully form until quite late so the whole thing seems crazy. There was a push towards Futsal for kids more than football, which would have been brilliant on many levels, but I fear the pandemic has put that back severely.

Personally I cheer like mad when Wyke scores with his head, but I reckon I might soon have to get used to watching a game without that.
 
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Unfortunately I can see a time when heading the ball, or any form of head collisions in say Rugby.. Will be banned! I believe this cos lawyers and medics will assemble data as proof of the hurt/injury caused. This will then lead to the award of huge monetary damages by the courts that will bankrupt the sports unless they change.
 
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I can't see how it'd work if heading was banned entirely, how would you defend corners and what would be the point in crossing. It'd change the game too much, it'd turn into a bunch of speedy midgets trying to pass their way through CM.

If something needs to be done I'd suggest a ban on headers when the ball goes above a certain (as in goal kick) height, no idea how that would be policed, and maybe protective helmets. There are loads of non heading related head injuries as it is.
 
FellTop said:
Speaking as a coach I cant envisage a world where heading remains a part of the game in 10 years time. All of the research is pointing one way.

In youth football guidance is not to allow heading in training sessions, only in matches. It has been like that for some time. Begs the question how they learn technique of course. Bournemouth went to no heading in training for junior teams before the FA guidance.

My sense is if we keep it away from training kids simply wont head the thing in matches. If they dont head it as kids they are less likely to head it as a adults. I therefore think in years to come it will be a much smaller part of the game and at that point it will be taken out officially.

When you really think about heading it is a bit daft. We tell kids to wear a helmet on a bike, we rush about when they bump their head, yet shout at them to head it when a ball comes out of the sky with snow on it. Kids skulls dont fully form until quite late so the whole thing seems crazy. There was a push towards Futsal for kids more than football, which would have been brilliant on many levels, but I fear the pandemic has put that back severely.

Personally I cheer like mad when Wyke scores with his head, but I reckon I might soon have to get used to watching a game without that.
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It’s a bit concerning. I played centre back for my local side from the ages of 10 to 17 and must’ve headed a ball thousands and thousands of times. I’m only 29 but do wonder what effect that might have had on my brain.
 
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Nacho said:
I can't see how it'd work if heading was banned entirely, how would you defend corners and what would be the point in crossing. It'd change the game too much, it'd turn into a bunch of speedy midgets trying to pass their way through CM.

If something needs to be done I'd suggest a ban on headers when the ball goes above a certain (as in goal kick) height, no idea how that would be policed, and maybe protective helmets. There are loads of non heading related head injuries as it is.
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Would it not be much simpler to ask players to sign a disclaimer, to be fair they can’t be that bothered as they are still heading away even after they have been told you could get brain damage.
 
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