News broke this week about the retirement of Kevin Doyle, a Republic of Ireland international footballer, who has retired on medical advice due to repeated headaches. Doyle has most recently been playing in the MLS, for Colorado Rapids.
Doyle said he wanted “to avoid the possibility of these symptoms becoming more serious and permanent”, making the decision having suffered “numerous” concussions over his 15-year career.
“This year it has been clear to me that heading the ball was becoming problematic and causing me to have repeated headaches,” he added. “Two concussions this season and numerous others over the years have made this more concerning”.
The FA and the Professional Footballers association have commissioned a study into the link between football and brain disease.
The study was welcomed by family members of Ex-England forward Jeff Astle died aged 59 in 2002, with a coroner ruling it was a result of brain trauma. A re-examination of his brain in 2014 found he had died from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Neurosurgeon Dr Willie Stewart, who carried out that examination, said it had been caused by Astle heading footballs throughout his career.
Looking closer to home, it remains to be seen whether actions can be brought in the UK on behalf of professional footballers. What is certain is that events in the US will be carefully scrutinised.
As we begin to understand the potential damage which may potentially be caused by head trauma, even just from “heading” the ball repeatedly, the potential for litigation may change the rules of football itself. Looking forward, it is hard to imagine that the game will not change. Governing bodies usually look to avoid corporate responsibility and to try and protect the next generation of sportsmen and women from harm. It is hard to imagine a game of football without “headers” but, twenty years ago, it was hard to imagine a game of football when vicious tackling was not the order of the day. The game has altered beyond recognition in that time and we should expect that it will continue to evolve.
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