Is it time for UK to follow US soccer and remove headers from youth football?

Here's a story in The Telegraph talking about the findings of a study from Stirling University which suggests that heading the ball during a football match could cause memory problems for up to 24 hours.


During the research, it was found that after just a single session of heading, memory test performance fell by between 41 and 67 per cent.

“Using a drill most amateur and professional teams would be familiar with, we found there was in fact increased inhibition in the brain immediately after heading and that performance on memory tests was reduced significantly."

“Although the changes were temporary, we believe they are significant to brain health, particularly if they happen over and over again as they do in football heading."

“With large numbers of people around the world participating in this sport, it is important that they are aware of what is happening inside the brain and the lasting effect this may have.”

"This measure was previously shown to be altered in confirmed concussion, but the acute changes in corticomotor inhibition, accompanied by cognitive changes, following the sub-concussive impact of football heading raise concerns that this practice, routine in soccer, may affect brain health."

A copy of the research paper is available here.

It's perhaps time UK football caught up with US soccer and took headers out of youth football.