Soccer injuries sustained by a professional team in South Africa

With soccer being described as the most popular sporting code in the world, many players are drawn to this physical contact sport. This study provides a detailed analysis of soccer injuries sustained in a South African professional soccer team over one competitive season. The analysis includes quantitative data assessing age of players injured, playing position, site of injury, mechanism of injury, injury management, physiotherapy access and preventative measures which were administered at competitive matches. The results of the study indicated that the younger players (20-24 years) and midfielders were more prone to sustaining an injury; the lower limbs were the most affected; the majority of injuries was the result of being tackled, and significance was found between the mechanism of injury and playing position with defenders and midfielders being more likely to sustain a lower limb injury compared to goalkeepers and forwards who were likely to incure more trunk injuries. Recommendations to curtail the high injuries prevalence at professional levels are provided.