Miedema, Mead and Putellas: Why are there so many ACL injuries in women’s football?

The confirmation, when it came, was no surprise. West Ham’s Jessica Ziu, Aston Villa’s Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah and Tottenham duo Kyah Simon and Ellie Brazil have all suffered ACL injuries this season too, while others such as Remi Allen of Aston Villa, Aoife Mannion of Manchester United and Jess Sigsworth of Leicester City are all at various stages of rehabbing ACL damage suffered last season. One of the country’s top knee surgeons, who has worked with Premier League clubs since the late 1990s, says ACL injuries among first-team players at top-flight clubs in the men’s game are actually rare. Speaking on the Women’s Football Podcast last week she said: “I think the same things that reduce any injuries are the same things that reduce ACL injuries. Then from there, we can start to look at all the different factors that might affect ACLs.” One physiotherapist who has worked for a ‘Big Six’ club in the men’s game and now works in private practice, counting both male and female professional footballers among their clients, told The Athletic that the “standard of care in terms of strength and conditioning and medical” in the women’s game needs to be looked at, questioning whether it is sufficient to help mitigate the increased risk of ACL injuries for female athletes.