The ACL Crisis in Women’s Football: Understanding, Navigating and Preventing
ACL injuries remain one of the biggest challenges facing women’s football. Despite growing awareness and increased research, serious knee injuries continue to sideline players across domestic leagues and the international game.
Since 2022 there have been 820 ACL injuries, 83 of them just being this year. This amount of injuries has raised concerns about player welfare and the long-term future of the women’s game. Only halfway through the calendar year, this number of ACL cases sustained is increasingly concerning. And the number will continue to rise as the year progresses.
Whilst many elite players are able to navigate their recovery with top medical teams at higher profile clubs, others in lower leagues are unable to afford surgery and therefore face a long wait. With some top players having suffered and also some players that can’t afford to get ACL surgery. The problem has not disappeared, instead continued to grow rapidly.
Women’s Football and the Feared Three Letters
Studies show that women are significantly more likely to suffer an ACL injury than men. Experts believe there is no single cause of the rise of ACL injuries in women’s football, however demands for more detailed and succinct research and analysis to better understand the injury are high.
Female players are two to six times more likely to suffer an ACL injury than men, due to factors including anatomy, hormones, fixture congestion, limited recovery times and equipment that has traditionally been designed for men. Researchers say improving players welfare and injury prevention is key to reducing the number of injuries.
The growing game schedule has grown concerned with players as they say that it could lead to more players getting injured, with the games more close together. The recovery time for an ACL injury is 9 to 12 months. Some players even have to consider retiring due to the long period of time there out for.
The Future of ACL Injuries
To help reduce the number of ACL injuries, football organisations and researchers must continue to monitor and evaluate to better understand why they happen. Projects such as Project ACL are studying injury causes, while clubs are introducing strength and injury prevention programmes to lower the risk. There are also increasing calls for improved fixture scheduling and longer recovery periods to help protect and reduce fatigue.
The ACL crisis has affected players from grassroots to elite football. Players such as Karen Holmgaard (Everton), Laia Aleixandri (Barcelona), Kosovare Asllani (London City Lionesses), Chiara Beccari (Juventus) and Tuva Hansen (West Ham) have been, and are still sidelined due to the injury for prolonged periods of the season.
While elite players often receive full medical support, many semi-professional and lower-league footballers face a different reality. Players including Kayleigh McDonald, Kathryn Pagan, Ella Humphrey and Emily Walton have turned to GoFundMe campaigns to pay for ACL surgery and rehabilitation. Their experiences have highlighted the financial inequalities that still exist in women’s football and prompted calls for better medical support for injured players beyond the Barclays Women’s Super League and WSL 2.
Women’s football continues to grow in popularity, but the rise in ACL injuries remains a major concern. More investment in research, medical support and player welfare is needed to help reduce these injuries and provide a stable future mentally, physically and financially for women in football. By improving injury prevention and giving players more time to recover, clubs and governing bodies can help keep more players on the pitch instead of in rehabilitation.