Headless soccer

[belvederebee]

The debate and investigation into the long term effects of heading the ball has resurfaced. Just wondering if outlawing heading would enhance the eleven a side game. Tactics for corners and some free kicks would have to be re thought; might we see the demise of the tall centre back? Attackwise, Bees don't rely on goal kicks being headed on and prefer to play out from the back so we're halfway there already. And no more aerial challenges to contend with. Would be interesting to see our heading stats - and those from across the divisions. Perhaps heading generally has decreased over the years. Even if skull thickness hasn't changed, at least the ball is lighter. These are just some random thoughts. What do you think chaps - and
chapesses?

 

[A Real Mysteron]

Why not just make the players wear dresses and have done with it?
If they haven’t banned boxers punching each other in the head as hard as they can, they are hardly going to ban footballers heading what is essentially an increasingly lighter bag of air.
The balls years ago weighed a ton, especially when wet, and had laces poking out.
The new ones are a different box of cheese.

Christ on a bike.

 

[JCMcBee]

Why not just make the players wear dresses and have done with it?
If they haven’t banned boxers punching each other in the head as hard as they can, they are hardly going to ban footballers heading what is essentially an increasingly lighter bag of air.
The balls years ago weighed a ton, especially when wet, and had laces poking out.
The new ones are a different box of cheese.

Christ on a bike.

.....hope jesus is wearing a helmet.

 

[A Real Mysteron]

.....hope jesus is wearing a helmet.

I’m picturing an imaginary bearded figure in a bike helmet now.

 

[JCMcBee]

I’m picturing an imaginary bearded figure in a bike helmet now.

....jesus didn't have a beard....purely folklore.

 

[A Real Mysteron]

Jesus per se is only folklore.
But I’m not getting that debate fired up.

 

[BURFORD BEE]

The debate and investigation into the long term effects of heading the ball has resurfaced. Just wondering if outlawing heading would enhance the eleven a side game. Tactics for corners and some free kicks would have to be re thought; might we see the demise of the tall centre back? Attackwise, Bees don't rely on goal kicks being headed on and prefer to play out from the back so we're halfway there already. And no more aerial challenges to contend with. Would be interesting to see our heading stats - and those from across the divisions. Perhaps heading generally has decreased over the years. Even if skull thickness hasn't changed, at least the ball is lighter. These are just some random thoughts. What do you think chaps - and
chapesses?

I'm out!
They've f***** about with the game enough already. How bloody complicated does 22 blokes kicking a ball about have to be.
Breathing is dangerous, perhaps some silly sod will ban that next.

 

[Ealing Bee]

Why not just make the players wear dresses and have done with it?
If they haven’t banned boxers punching each other in the head as hard as they can, they are hardly going to ban footballers heading what is essentially an increasingly lighter bag of air.
The balls years ago weighed a ton, especially when wet, and had laces poking out.
The new ones are a different box of cheese.

Christ on a bike.

Actually, the old footballs were marginally lighter than modern footballs when dry, they only became significantly heavier when wet. And obviously it only rained or snowed etc in a minority of games.

Anyhow, although the weight of the ball may well be a factor, injury is caused by the movement of the (soft) brain within the (hard) skull. Which is why eg rugby players often suffer concussion caused by jolting of the head during tackles, even when there has been no actual physical contact against the head. American football also has a serious problem with this, despite their players wearing helmets.

With (proper) football, it seems likely that with heading, even if the actual impact itself doesn't cause the problem, it may still lead to more frequent brain movement, and therefore greater risk, than if there were no heading allowed.

Which is not to say that heading should be banned from the game - like Boxing, imo it should continue on the basis of "informed consent".

But that in turn leads to two more issues.

First, just how "informed" are we? There is clear evidence to suggest that the relevant bodies, including the PFA , have been dilatory in following this up with serious, concerted research.

Second, it is very possible that children are more at risk of concussion (brain damage) than adults, since the brain and cranium is not fully formed. It may be that when we know more, it will be decided that children should be banned from heading the ball until, say, reaching 16. After all, a child cannot be said to give his/her "consent" and parents may understandably be reluctant to expose their children to greater risk than they themselves undergo when playing.

Finally, Alan Shearer did a very interesting report on this subject last year, which suggested to me at least, that this is not a subject which should be lightly dismissed:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2017/11/09/alan-shearer-fear-may-develop-dementia-years-heading-heavy-footballs/

 

[mhead bee]

Why not just make the players wear dresses and have done with it?
If they haven’t banned boxers punching each other in the head as hard as they can, they are hardly going to ban footballers heading what is essentially an increasingly lighter bag of air.
The balls years ago weighed a ton, especially when wet, and had laces poking out.
The new ones are a different box of cheese.

Christ on a bike.

Exactly the sort of attitude that stops progress. The FA and Rugby being ruin by "old farts" who had exactly the same attitude.

 

[Isleworth_Bee]

Cant see it being banned just monitored better, especially with injuries and concussion. Regardless of the ball in the past how many players would have had head injuries and just played on? The game was rougher and i bet there were more head collisions.

 

[A Real Mysteron]

Exactly the sort of attitude that stops progress. The FA and Rugby being ruin by "old farts" who had exactly the same attitude.

Personally I wouldn’t head a rugby ball.
They’re a bit pointy.

 

[Ealing Bee]

"Heading a football should be restricted in the professional game and banned for those under the age of 18, according to one of the world's leading experts on brain injuries.

Dr Bennet Omalu discovered the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

The condition has long-term effects and is caused by repeated head trauma.

"It does not make sense to control an object travelling at a high velocity with your head," Dr Omalu said."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45110282

 

[The Pipe]

Like with most things as we get cleverer and understand more the dangers of doing things because “ we always have” start to come to the fore.

Let’s face it in the past it was common practice to give footballers injections before the game so they would get through any pain barriers, now we are faced with a number of ex players with severely debilitating muscle problems

I can understand the logic behind the comments regarding heading the ball but not sure what the solution is, unless it is wearing something similar to a scrum cap.

Not advocating a nanny state and I have no knowledge as to the veracity of the claims although it does make sense but it is perhaps an area that should be discussed. I recall the introduction of helmets in cricket and the comments about how unnecessary etc, however it is now a prerequisite so perhaps similar will happen in football in due course

 

[whyteleafebee76]

Lighter balls, more football played on the deck and better medical expertise/monitoring all points to me that this will be less of an issue.

I watched a non league game a couple of weeks ago and both sides played it out from the keeper on the deck. The ball was only lumped forward once from the keepers hands in the entire game.

I think skull caps could be an option but not mandatory for players to where.

 

[Ealing Bee]

Lighter balls

If you read the link I posted in #8, above, you'll see this:
"Today’s footballers may be at greater risk of head injury and dementia because balls are heavier than in the past, a new documentary suggests.
Although vintage brown leather footballs appear more cumbersome than today’s precision-engineered balls, in fact, they were 40 grams lighter. Only when they were wet did they become significantly heavier."

...better medical expertise/monitoring all points to me that this will be less of an issue.

Problem is, with dementia and other brain injuries, the symptoms are often only felt/observed years after retirement. Also the fact that scans can only tell you so much, and many brain injuries can only be confirmed by studying samples post-mortem.

I watched a non league game a couple of weeks ago and both sides played it out from the keeper on the deck. The ball was only lumped forward once from the keepers hands in the entire game.

That may help, but you still get players practising heading the ball in training thousands of times during a career, esp those in certain positions, or set-piece specialists etc.

I think skull caps could be an option but not mandatory for players to where.

From what I've read, a lot of header-related brain injuries are a consequence of the soft brain moving against the hard skull during violent movements, not so much the actual contact itself, so skull caps make little difference. In rugby, for instance, players can get concussed from big hits where there is no actual contact with the head, but it gets jerked back and forward by the force of the impact on their bodies. Same eg with American Football, where they have a shocking problem with brain injury etc, despite the fact they all wear hard helmets:
https://qz.com/1038120/over-99-of-nfl-players-brains-in-a-study-of-dead-players-have-cte-permanent-brain-damage/

Anyone who's interested in this subject really should watch Shearer's documentary, it's sobering stuff: