Editing Material (U7:P6)

The Invisible Opponent: The ACL Pandemic 

Women’s football has been captivating audiences globally and rising in popularity within the last couple of years. However, underneath the power and brilliant performance there is an overwhelming injury which has been affecting the beauty of the sport. The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL).  This injury hasn’t just affected a player physically but is an overwhelming challenge that has been affecting the whole game and impacting even the highest level of players such as Leah Williamson and Michelle Agyemang. This, intern, has also affected the biggest leagues such as the Women’s Super League (WSL). 

The horrific sight of a player falling to the ground and clutching their knee is unforgettable.   You never forget the look on their face when they know what has just happened as everyone in the stand, no matter what team, watches the heartbreaking scene which is one of the worst sights in women’s football. For example, England captain and Arsenal vice-captain (Leah Williamson) ruptured her ACL weeks before the 2023 World Cup. This has repercussions within the sport and denied England of a crucial defender in the tournament. As well as this, Beth Mead a Golden Boot winner and winner of the Euro 2022 and 2025 ruptured her ACL which led to her missing out on a whole season and a World Cup. As a result of this we can see that these injuries not only affect the player themselves but also the wider teams and nations. 

The impact this injury has on leagues and the teams playing in them is extremely devastating as well; it leads to the squads being stretched thin as more players are unavailable and it can ruin tactical plans as well as decreasing the level of play. For the league itself, having major players suffering from long term injuries can cause major setbacks for example, it can decrease excitement for the fans as well as ruining brand deals. An interview with an anonymous female footballer she stated “ its affected me mentally as I can no longer do simple tasks I used to be able to do” She explained that it’s hard to have to rely on people to do day to day things and when I return I will be more cautious and I may have a mental block so will pull out of tackles out of fear of getting ACL again”.

The one major question surrounding this injury is why are female footballers more susceptible to an ACL injury than men? In an interview with a female footballer she stated, “that one of the reasons women tend to get ACL injuries more is because women have less funding and more likely to play on worse conditions then the men which can strain their legs and football boots are typically designed for men’s feet compared to women’s so there is less support”. This has been an important question for sport scientists for years and recently there has been some evidence that can help answer some parts of this question. One of the most significant pieces of evidence concerns hormonal fluctuations. Recent research shows that varying levels of Estrogen throughout the menstrual cycle can impact ligament flexibility. Increased levels of hormones are known to soften the ligaments and potentially make the ACL more susceptible to injury, especially in specific phases of the cycle. This is one of the most prominent differences between male and female athletes getting an ACL injury. Another reason is possibly due to the angle of the hip and the knee joint due to women having wider hips. This can put more stress on the knee joint which can lead to the knee collapsing during certain movements and can cause ACL tears. 

The modern women’s game demands extremely high levels of intensity, speed and physicality which mirrors the men’s game. Players are having to cover more ground, more high-speed sprints and getting into more tackles and risky collisions and while this increases the growth of the sport it also makes the players more vulnerable and under increased levels of stress. For example, players such as Leah Williamson have shown that the journey back to the pitch wasn’t just a personal one but also reflects the powerful resilience of women’s players trying to make football safer and more sustainable for the future generation. Due to the severity of this injury, football associations such as the FA have invested mass amount of money for injury surveillance. In addition to this, clubs have also funded sports scientists to create injury prevention programmes which focus on strengthening the muscle around the injury as well as creating in depth training programmes.They are also educating future generations on the risks associated with the menstrual cycle. All these developments are helping the footballing world to ensure that the beautiful game can continue to thrive for women without the overwhelming fear of horrific injury.