The art of heading a football > > > it's been questioned.

[not on facebook]

They are saying that it's possible of long term illness when a footballer
gets much older after his playing days are ended.

They are all so saying or talking about how this might/ will effect kids
who play and head the ball a lot .

Now when you think that that grand olde game of conkers has been
banished from school play grounds  by the > PC > health safety brigade > what chance will football have of heading a ball the way we know it today ?

Will we lose the terms ' get a head to it ' or ' good head ' on likes of cantley park and town fields in the long run.

[Herman Hessian]

supposedly the cause of  jeff astle's death from a brain tumour or sthg similar, wasn't it ?

given the number of blokes who have played football over the years, if there was anything in this you'd expect deaths down to similar ailments to be of epidemic proportions, but they are clearly not, so I would side with the whole thing reeking of PC snowflake büllshit....

the twāts who make this sort of bobbins up should busy themselves with other things, such as the correlation between skydiving and deaths through hitting the ground at 400 mph when falling from two miles up, where the link is a little less ambiguous

[drfchound]

Herman, I have to say that your last paragraph made me laugh out loud.

[andysly]

Herman - well done for cutting through the BS with such articulate style.

[Herman Hessian]

Herman, I have to say that your last paragraph made me laugh out loud.

Herman - well done for cutting through the BS with such articulate style.

you're both most kind - i remain, of course, available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and funerals...

[Iberian Red]

Herman, I have to say that your last paragraph made me laugh out loud.

Herman - well done for cutting through the BS with such articulate style.

you're both most kind - i remain, of course, available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and funerals...

No dripping butties, or pork scratchings on offer when you entertain?

[Glyn_Wigley]

Now when you think that that grand olde game of conkers has been
banished from school play grounds  by the > PC > health safety brigade

Sorry Oslo, but you've fallen for the anti-PC Health & Safety Brigade billshut.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/09/conkers-goggles-myth-health-safety

[Bentley Bullet]

There is definitely a PC Health & Safety Brigade. I'm not referring to the national HSE watchdog, I'm talking about the Namby Pamby, Shandy drinking, powder puff, Jessie, do-gooder Liberals who hold positions that enable them to make ridiculous decisions such as banning playing conkers in school playgrounds - in the disguise of the official HSE watchdog.

[albie]

Sorry fellas, but this needs to be fully investigated.

It is possibly an avoidable industrial injury. Just like asbestosis, or coal dust disease, once evidence comes to light you do need to test it, and see how it can be better managed.

The BBC summary is here;
Uefa to launch study into link between playing football and dementia - BBC Sport

I think football has a history of not taking issues seriously until forced to do so. Lawyers will be taking a close interest.

We owe it to Ernie Moss and many others to properly consider this.

[The Red Baron]

The issue of concussion and how it is managed is a serious one. However I think it is less likely that long-term brain damage would be caused by today's light footballs.

The old leather balls, the sort that players like Jeff Astle and Ernie Moss played with were much heavier and crucially held water, making them even heavier.

[Glyn_Wigley]

There is definitely a PC Health & Safety Brigade. I'm not referring to the national HSE watchdog, I'm talking about the Namby Pamby, Shandy drinking, powder puff, Jessie, do-gooder Liberals who hold positions that enable them to make ridiculous decisions such as banning playing conkers in school playgrounds - in the disguise of the official HSE watchdog.

Looks like you've fallen for the billshut too!

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/09/conkers-goggles-myth-health-safety

[Bentley Bullet]

https://tinyurl.com/hkqhmyg

[not on facebook]

https://tinyurl.com/hkqhmyg

Well with the evidence that Bentley bullet brings to the table that good enough for me that the PC brigade or like minded are trying their best to get their foot into the door of every day life.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Bentley's 'evidence' still maintains the untrue conkers/goggles myth as true. So to me it looks like the author just gathered some stories without researching them, even more so because the goggles myth was shown to be untrue before the date of that article.

[Bentley Bullet]

What 'untrue conkers/goggles myth' would that be?

[Glyn_Wigley]

Did you even look at the link I posted?

[Bentley Bullet]

Yes, I did, and then I confirmed the accuracy of my earlier post by sending another link, which described schools that made their own decision to ban playing conkers (among other things), independent of any ruling from the national HSE watchdog.

It is those people who I refer to as the PC health & safety brigade.

[foxbat]

A friend of mine was carrying out electrical maintenance on a factory gantry
when he was rammed by a mobile crane passing pay.' and knocked unconcious
The firm had no operational safety plan for this vehicle ( leftie ,liberal ,nambie pamby ),
and some safety gear was not in place
He never recovered consciousness and died in hospital a week later.

Is this what some people want  ?
maybe they go over the top now and again , but the 'Brigade' have my full support.

[Syme]

Would it be so bad to stop children heading the ball? They might learn to play more with their feet then.

[Bentley Bullet]

Of course common sense should prevail. No one is talking about standards of procedure and safety plans being nothing less than essential. What I'm talking about is kids playing conkers in a school playground for God's sake!

Are you Glyn Wigley in disguise?

[foxbat]

don't know this Glynn .

I went back to re read the conkers article again -
but got distracted by a Trump - Deutsche bank- Russian mafia link.
getting a bit off topic all this
so will try to stick with the footie.

[Bristol Red Rover]

The issue of concussion and how it is managed is a serious one. However I think it is less likely that long-term brain damage would be caused by today's light footballs.

The old leather balls, the sort that players like Jeff Astle and Ernie Moss played with were much heavier and crucially held water, making them even heavier.

Spot on. Much less likely now but still an issue as some people are always going to be more susceptable. Not something that's easy or even possible to be certain about where the "safe" line is.

Kids may or may not be more vulnerable. I think in the US they are banned from heading up to the age of 10. That inexperience can be taken into account when we play the US 

[idler]

I did my cruciates in playing football in 1973 aged 24.
Cartilage op then a full knee replacement followed two weeks later by it being taken out and replaced by a second after getting infected. I now can't bend my left knee too far.
I loved football and hated giving up but I was unlucky, it happens.
Would I stop my grandkids playing? Not a chance.
I did know a lad from Balby (Brian Challenger) who worked at the plant and got kicked on his leg in a dinner hour kick about. His leg never got better didn't go to a doctor for ages and then told he had cancer and died aged 20 or 21.
There is a risk with anything we do, we accept the responsibility and cross the road, drive, travel by plane regularly. Some things are just too silly for words although the claim culture doesn't help.
We can't stop doing everything.

[Sammy Chung was King]

I notice they got it in that it was only likely to be pro footballers who could have been affected not recreational footballers. That would terrify them if people started putting claims in for playing local football and being affected. I know it's more likely with the pro's playing more but there's a lot of people played from a very young age and the amount of footballs they have headed must be thousands.
 I have headed quite a few as have most of us on here i would think there is a good possibility that semi-pro players downwards could also be affected especially those who played when the heavier balls were in use.

[Syme]

The study did actually include an amateur footballer, but of the 14 studied, 13 were pros. It also seems to say the majority of head injuries are the result of head to player contacts, rather than head to ball - so finding out what is the real danger is problematic. If it's head to player then you're never really going to get rid of this element, unless you introduce skullcaps or something.

It's also interesting that they found that the risk for modern players with lighter balls may be just as serious due to the speed at which the ball moves now. It definitely deserves more research as dementia is an awful price to pay for playing a game for 20 years or so.

[Goole Rover]

In my mind it's the centre backs who take the most stick when heading a ball not the mention the forwards elbow and back flicks from the opposing head, I have damage from the latter two. Geoff Astle and Ernie Moss were both forwards, I accept that both took injuries. I hope that Ernie's remaining life is made as comfortable as possible, a great player and likeable chap.

[albie]

One possible solution might be wearing a headband to absorb some of the impact energy.

Steve Foster (the old Brighton Centre half) used to use one to protect scar tissue. With modern materials, it should be possible to produce a headband to minimise risk.

Kids are a worry, because they are more vulnerable at a young age. The ban on heading under 10 might be a good idea from the States.

[Bentley Bullet]

One of the most dangerous body contact points is elbows. I would make the wearing of 'Chris Morgan elbow cushions' compulsory.

[ravenrover]

Crikey I must be dead man walking, heading was all I was very good at

[Bristol Red Rover]

....Kids are a worry, because they are more vulnerable at a young age. The ban on heading under 10 might be a good idea from the States.

Interesting one is that. It used to be thought that children were less vulnerable than adults, but recent reports suggest the opposite and that includes teens.

It can be argued that with no heading till a certain age other aspects of the game would have to compensate and might improve a great deal giving us a better game to watch.