Football injuries: Do pitch surfaces contribute to female footballer injuries?- QHN

While little research has been carried out regarding pitches for female athletes specifically, plenty of data has been gathered in football generally.

Everything from traction, the hardness of the surface, how high the ball bounces, how far the ball rolls and shock absorption have been looked into.

Neil Rodger, the principal consultant at STRI Group – a company working in the development of sports surfaces – admitted more research was needed to see if there was any link to increased injury risk in female footballers and certain pitches.

“It’s never been broken down into men’s football and women’s football. We’ve always just designed football pitches,” he told BBC Sport.

“When you think about injuries in the men’s or women’s game, there are so many factors that contribute – the training load, sleep, physiology, hormones…

“The pitch is a factor, it’s in the mix. Historically, in the women’s and men’s game, there have been unsafe pitches. In the modern game, that’s not really the case.

“Particularly in the Premier League, the pitch quality is exceptional and the grounds teams are very good. There’s more research needed to see if there is any link.”

Rodger said it was unknown if there was “a very subtle difference between what is optimal for the men’s game and what is for the women’s game”, but the volume of matches played in shared stadiums was no doubt a contributing factor in reducing the quality of surfaces.

“Arsenal Women play a lot of matches at the Emirates and the grounds team will prepare the pitch to the exact same high standard as they would for the men,” he added.

“But whether it’s men’s or women’s, the more games you play on a pitch, the more wear and tear it takes and the more the quality of the pitch is going to be impacted.

“More usage means more maintenance needed. That is a factor.”