Should heading be scrapped?

[FilipinoHibs]

Footballers should be warned about the risk of dementia, a brain injury expert has said, as landmark Scottish research found defenders were five times more likely to develop the disease. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/19485256.glasgow-university-dementia-football-study-reveals-risk-five-fold-defenders/?ref=appshr

[007]

Could surely use some kind of protective headgear.

[hibee316]

5 times more likely? Wow.

[JimboHibs]

Reckon our defence think headings been scrapped already 🤔

Just joking.

Seriously though how could you approach a game of football knowing your not allowed to head a ball.

[Hibee Mac]

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Reckon our defence think headings been scrapped already

Just joking.

Seriously though how could you approach a game of football knowing your not allowed to head a ball.

It would change the way the game is played completely. I reckon it would be as fundamental a change as when the formations went to 442 instead of 5 up front.

Not sure how I feel about it tbh but it's hard to look at scientific evidence and say nah we'll just keep doing what we have been.

[hibee316]

Corners would have to be short.
Long balls couldn't be contested in the air, but at least that applies to both players.

Attacking free-kicks would be fun. You couldn't really have a wall!

[greenlex]

Is it really necessary/? The balls are much lighter than in even the recent past. The players back in the 50’s 60s and 70s were heading the equivalent of medicine balls when they were wet. Even in relation to more recent years today’s footballs are even lighter. No expert but I’m thinking there might not be a need these days.

[Hibee Mac]

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Is it really necessary/? The balls are much lighter than in even the recent past. The players back in the 50’s 60s and 70s were heading the equivalent of medicine balls when they were wet. Even in relation to more recent years today’s footballs are even lighter. No expert but I’m thinking there might not be a need these days.

That's a good point actually and one that would need to be factored into any decisions made

[Hibee Mac]

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Corners would have to be short.
Long balls couldn't be contested in the air, but at least that applies to both players.

Attacking free-kicks would be fun. You couldn't really have a wall!

I reckon it would need new rules introduced to prevent football becoming a dull long ball game. With no headers route 1 football would be very effective I think

[gbhibby]

I think the psi is still the same but materials don't absorb water. Remember playing with plastic mitre balls in schools football they were lethal. Most players prefer the higher psi rather than the lower Psi. If you reduce the upper psi to 12 instead of 15 would that help as the air pressure could also be a factor.

[Hibbyradge]

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I reckon it would need new rules introduced to prevent football becoming a dull long ball game. With no headers route 1 football would be very effective I think

I disagree. I think it has the potential to make football better.

Players would have to learn to pass, move, control the ball and er, play football.

Most top teams don't look for headed goals and they pretty much always play out from the bank.

[wookie70]

It would be interesting to see a breakdown on the various eras the study covered and were the players positions equal during the various eras. ie same amount of players in the same positions for each decade. It certainly sounds like there is an issue with heading the ball repeatedly over a long period though and that definitely needs looked at and at the very least players knowing what the risks are.

[Bishop Hibee]

I’d rather it wasn’t but I suspect it’s the inevitable outcome as the spectre of litigation rears its head.

[wookie70]

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Most top teams don't look for headed goals and they pretty much always play out from the bank.

I know it is a typo but it is kind off true too

[sauzee=legend]

So if heading the ball becomes a thing of the past…. Surely that means boxing, UFC, kickboxing etc will all be scrapped? As that’s a lot more dangerous than heading a football

[jacomo]

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Is it really necessary/? The balls are much lighter than in even the recent past. The players back in the 50’s 60s and 70s were heading the equivalent of medicine balls when they were wet. Even in relation to more recent years today’s footballs are even lighter. No expert but I’m thinking there might not be a need these days.

I think that’s a big unanswered question. I’d be loathe to lose heading from the game and I hope that today’s balls really are much better. But as I understand it the issue is the damage caused by repeatedly hitting your head against an object with force, and today’s players probably do that as much as previous generations.

[hibby rae]

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Is it really necessary/? The balls are much lighter than in even the recent past. The players back in the 50’s 60s and 70s were heading the equivalent of medicine balls when they were wet. Even in relation to more recent years today’s footballs are even lighter. No expert but I’m thinking there might not be a need these days.

I was listening to one of the guys, I think, who had worked on a report a couple years back on sportsound and they said a consequence of the balls being lighter is they now have agreater velocity in the air. So the effect is still possibly similar to previous decades.

[Hibee Mac]

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I disagree. I think it has the potential to make football better.

Players would have to learn to pass, move, control the ball and er, play football.

Most top teams don't look for headed goals and they pretty much always play out from the bank.

I still think route 1 would end up king without some kind of rule change.

The reason I say that is that the percentage long ball up to a big man becomes more weighted in the favour of the attacker because the defender can't head it. The defender would end up forced to either try and volley the thing or let it bounce which we all know is rule #1 not to do defensively.

Without headers I think you'd end up with defenders lumping it up field to gain territory, from there then yes I agree you may end up with more passing football from the attackers to try and score since they can't head it in but I think the build up from deep would end up changing significantly, and for the worse tbh.

[heretoday]

We'll have to make the balls a lot lighter. It might make for an entertaining spectacle, especially in the wind!
By the way, I saw two Olympic boxers going at it yesterday and neither was wearing a headguard. What's happening?

[Crunchie]

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Is it really necessary/? The balls are much lighter than in even the recent past. The players back in the 50’s 60s and 70s were heading the equivalent of medicine balls when they were wet. Even in relation to more recent years today’s footballs are even lighter. No expert but I’m thinking there might not be a need these days.

I agree, cut down heading in practice sessions should be suffice imo. Dementia in the general public has went up rapidly over the years with no link to football.

[HendoDelivered]

May as well just scrap football Altogether thenif that’s the case.

[gbhibby]

What could help is training with a different type of ball such as a foam type ball. You still see players doing heading drills where they are heading the ball 20 times or more. Practice the technique but reduce the risk to players. You are nowadays likely to head the ball only a few times during a game.

[gbhibby]

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I agree, cut down heading in practice sessions should be suffice imo. Dementia in the general public has went up rapidly over the years with no link to football.

I think we are more aware of dementia now and also people are living longer. Dementia takes on many forms.

[SlickShoes]

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So if heading the ball becomes a thing of the past…. Surely that means boxing, UFC, kickboxing etc will all be scrapped? As that’s a lot more dangerous than heading a football

The problem with heading is that it occurs every single day multiple times, boxers and people doing MMA are not getting punched in the head every day of the week. They wear headgear when training and generally only get punched in the head when in actual fights.

The sustained low-impact damage over a whole football career could be devastating.

If the science supports banning headers then I'd support it, we can't just keep it the way it is because it's always been that way. Other sports have to determine their own athletes safety so we can't really point at something else and say it's fine.

The fact that players are still being knocked out cold on the pitch then team doctors and coaches are just putting them back in the game makes me think we have a very long way to go here, because people don't even take that seriously at the moment.

[hibbysam]

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The problem with heading is that it occurs every single day multiple times, boxers and people doing MMA are not getting punched in the head every day of the week. They wear headgear when training and generally only get punched in the head when in actual fights.

The sustained low-impact damage over a whole football career could be devastating.

If the science supports banning headers then I'd support it, we can't just keep it the way it is because it's always been that way. Other sports have to determine their own athletes safety so we can't really point at something else and say it's fine.

The fact that players are still being knocked out cold on the pitch then team doctors and coaches are just putting them back in the game makes me think we have a very long way to go here, because people don't even take that seriously at the moment.

Are footballers heading a ball every day of the week? Very few training sessions will include heading, and when doing set pieces etc very few players will actually be heading the ball.

Boxers know the risks of stepping into the ring, moto GP riders know the risk when getting on the track, rugby players know their risk week after week. Same with footballers. Take mitigation’s by all means but changing the whole game that we watch isn’t for me.

[gbhibby]

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The problem with heading is that it occurs every single day multiple times, boxers and people doing MMA are not getting punched in the head every day of the week. They wear headgear when training and generally only get punched in the head when in actual fights.

The sustained low-impact damage over a whole football career could be devastating.

If the science supports banning headers then I'd support it, we can't just keep it the way it is because it's always been that way. Other sports have to determine their own athletes safety so we can't really point at something else and say it's fine.

The fact that players are still being knocked out cold on the pitch then team doctors and coaches are just putting them back in the game makes me think we have a very long way to go here, because people don't even take that seriously at the moment.

Agree the head injury protocols are shocking in football and are way behind sports like Rugby.
Injuries which need treatment should have temporary substitutes so that the injuries can be properly assessed.
Science will surely come up with a solution to minimise the risks.