Photo: Budleigh Salterton’s goalkeeper goes up against a Clyst Valley player in a 1-1 Devon Football League game ©MiraclePR
The Premier League, with its vast wealth and business-orientated product, is a totally different game when compared with the grind of non-league and grassroots football. However, some things, good and bad, unite the game at all levels – or at least they should. For example, Torquay United fans who watched Raul Jimenez’ sickening head injury last week when Arsenal played Wolves, will have been reminded of last month’s head injury to Crawley goalkeeper Tom McGill in that unforgettable FA Cup tie. For several agonising minutes, there was no difference between the superhuman Premier star Jimenez and McGill – both were simply footballers in real danger.
After the Wolves game, there were renewed calls for the FA to implement a plan for concussion subs across football. Tentative plans have already been made to trial the idea, perhaps during the FA Cup Third Round in January, but many argue there should be no waiting around and that a trial is unnecessary. After all, it’s something that all teams and players want. Could the FA not implement the rule first and work out the details later?
This is something that has been bubbling under the surface for a while. One of the main barriers has been the win-at-all-costs attitude that permeates top-level football. If you remember back to the on-field row between then Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and club doctor Eva Carneiro in 2015, there was massive criticism levelled at Mourinho for not trusting the experts. However, many also empathised with Mourinho’s position, given the high stakes that high-profile football matches throw up. But should the FA act to make it easier for managers to prioritise player safety?
Huge pressure on managers to win
Of course, the stakes are just as high for clubs looking to gain promotion to the Premier Division. Clubs such as Bristol City face tough opposition every week as they battle for a coveted play-off place. Could you imagine the pressure on manager Dean Holden if a player were to get concussed in a make-or-break game towards the end of the season – or in the play-offs themselves? Winning or losing a match at this level can affect the destiny of a football club – an entire city, perhaps, given that no Bristol team has ever played in the Premier League.
The above is purely hypothetical, of course, and Holden seems the sort of character to put player welfare above everything else, but the point still stands: it is surely up to football’s authorities to take the element of doubt away from the scenario and allow for a substitute to come on and replace them. A so-called concussion sub might come on the pitch for 10 minutes, giving enough time for the doctor to assess the player, and that helps the manager make the right decision. We should also remember that many players will want to play on after getting a head injury, so the 10-minute rule would make it easier on them as well.
Even heading has been shown to cause problems
This concussion debate is part of a wider discussion on head injuries in football. There has been a call to ban heading of the ball across youth leagues as evidence mounts that the constant impact can lead to diseases like dementia in later life. This is especially pertinent for lower league football teams. A study has shown that players are more likely to head the ball in games the further down the football pyramid you go. In League Two, which was the lowest league in the study, the 58 games monitored saw individual players heading the ball 20 times or more.
If you’re a Gulls fan with a love of stats, maybe you could corroborate that ’20 header figure per player’ figure the next time you watch Torquay United play. The study showed that players doing that in quick succession would fail a concussion test 80% of the time!
While nobody wants to change the game fundamentally – there are few things sweeter than the sight of a goal from a towering header – there are some things that can be brought in for player safety. Which brings us back to the concussion subs. Is it time for the FA to act, not just in the Premier League, but right down the rungs of the ladder in football?