WSL players share 'devastating' toll of ACL injuries in women's football in support of new initiative

Chelsea’s Lucy Bronze opened up about the "daunting" impact of ACL injuries in women’s football at the launch of FIFPRO’s new project looking to accelerate research into the injury.

ACL injuries are over two times more likely to occur in women than men, and around two thirds of these types of injuries occur in women’s football when there is no physical contact, according to research. 

Bronze has had six knee surgeries during her career and completed a university dissertation on ACL injuries after realising there was a lack of research.

"As soon as your teammates have done their ACL, that's for a long period of time," said Bronze at the launch event in London. "You struggle in many different ways with it because there's not this one smooth journey of having an operation, everything will be fine, and then [in] nine months you'll play.

"Sometimes it takes longer. Sometimes you get back playing and you still have problems or you need two operations, or you're more at risk of doing your ACL on the other leg or even the same one. I think that's why it's such a daunting injury for any player."

The three-year 'Project ACL' has been launched with the intention of accelerating research to gain a better understanding about how to reduce these injuries in professional women footballers. This work will be done in collaboration with partners FIFPRO, the Professional Footballers Association, Nike and Leeds Beckett University. 

As well as reviewing the existing understanding of ACL injuries in women's football, all 12 WSL clubs will be contacted to determine the resources and facilities available to teams trying to manage these issues.

WSL players will have their workload and travel schedules tracked to try and determine where risk of injury can be reduced.

Aston Villa defender and Scotland international Rachel Corsie, who has experience of returning from an ACL injury, went on to highlight the emotional toll this experience can also have on a player. 

"I think one of the biggest challenges is more the mental and emotional obstacles that you come across - and those are really different for everyone during that journey," she explained. "That's something that a lot of people allude to, but maybe don't delve into. There is a really strong correlation between that emotional and mental strain that players are under that sometimes causes you to end up picking up these injuries."

Summing up the objective for Project ACL, FIFPRO’s director of policy and strategic relations for women’s football Dr Alex Culvin said: "Overall, this is a project that responds to players rightly calling for more research. That's why it is so important to get players in a room together to discuss issues such as ACL injury that can affect their health, career longevity and prospects. We have reframed the questions asked around ACL injury, aligning with players and focusing on creating an industry that is shaped in their vision."

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