FA, WSL launch ACL study in women's football — SkimNews
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- FA and WSL Football launched an FA-funded PhD study with Imperial College London and sports knee surgeon Simon Ball, led by researcher Hanna Lehtovirta and involving clubs across the Women's Super League and WSL2.
- Phase one will use player surveys to gather injury history, training and match load, and hormonal, nutritional and psychological data, comparing players who suffered ACL injuries since 2018-19 with those who have not.
- Phase two will interview players and staff about their perceptions of ACL injuries and current approaches to training and prevention, while players from every Women's Super League and WSL2 club will be invited alongside medical, performance and coaching staff.
- Researchers say previous studies have highlighted anatomical, hormonal, biomechanical and environmental risk factors, but less is known about how those factors interact in day-to-day elite football.
- Research suggests female footballers are two to six times more likely to suffer ACL injuries than male counterparts, and the injuries often keep players out for months.
- Fifa announced in April 2025 that it was also funding research into whether hormonal fluctuations during menstrual cycles contribute to the rise in ACL injuries in women's football.
Why it matters: For WSL and WSL2 clubs, the project creates a shared evidence base spanning every club: phase-one surveys will compare injured and uninjured players since 2018-19, then interviews will pair those data with staff and player experiences. Researchers hope the combined findings will inform future ACL prevention, rehabilitation and player-welfare strategies.
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