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Question: Should heading be banned in football?
Yes - 3 (6.7%)
No - 42 (93.3%)
Total Voters: 39

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Author Topic: Should heading be banned in football?  (Read 14086 times)
Chubbs

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« on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 11:44:26 »

Simple enough question. The link between heading and dementia has picked up a lot of traction recently so what's everyone thoughts?

Call me selfish or insensitive, but personally, i think it would be a travesty if they banned it.
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Bogus Dave
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« Reply #1 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 11:48:18 »

Not sure about the adult game, but there should be serious considerations on the youth game
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The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey

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« Reply #2 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 11:51:57 »

There’s millions of people who get dementia who have never headed a ball in their lives. How does anyone prove that a particular case was caused by heading a ball? Can’t imagine the diminutive Nobby Styles was a regular header of the ball.
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theakston2k

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« Reply #3 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 11:52:13 »

May as well get rid of the game altogether if it gets banned, they'd end up bringing in the over head height rule from 5 a side to enforce it and the whole game will be ruined.
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #4 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 11:54:49 »

May as well get rid of the game altogether if it gets banned, they'd end up bringing in the over head height rule from 5 a side to enforce it and the whole game will be ruined.
Yep, will feel like a game of table football.

One bonus, it means Flitcroft and the Cowleys will never get another managers job Smiley
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Chubbs

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« Reply #5 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 12:03:19 »

May as well get rid of the game altogether if it gets banned, they'd end up bringing in the over head height rule from 5 a side to enforce it and the whole game will be ruined.
Soon enough boxers/mma fighters will no longer be able to punch their opponents in the head.

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Hunk

« Reply #6 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 12:12:04 »

Absolutely not. Part of the attraction of elite sport, such as football or boxing, is the risk involved.
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theakston2k

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« Reply #7 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 12:15:42 »

Soon enough boxers/mma fighters will no longer be able to punch their opponents in the head.


And that will be more ruined sports. People make a choice and accept there is risk involved when they play certain sports, too many do gooders out there trying to dictate what people should and shouldn't do.
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Panda Paws

« Reply #8 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 12:18:27 »

Absolutely not.

A) There's a big difference between heading a ball in the 50s and now.
B) No one is forced to play football. At most, just make people aware of the risks if they're proven
C) Are they going to ban every fight sport, rugby, NFL, etc too?

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Hunk

« Reply #9 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 12:20:58 »

Soon enough boxers/mma fighters will no longer be able to punch their opponents in the head.



There has been talk of introducing head guards in the pros. I've no problem with head guards being used in amateur Boxing, but fighting without one is something that differentiates the amateur ranks from the professional. Boxing does need to have a look at its match making though. The dangers of somebody smaller getting punched in the head by somebody bigger are obvious, but there's dangers involved when somebody loses an unnatural amount of weight to fight somebody smaller too. Kell Brook was way too big to be draining to 147 to fight Crawford on the weekend, for example. Getting knocked out when you are drained cannot be good for the ol' noggin
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Nemo
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« Reply #10 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 12:52:07 »

There’s millions of people who get dementia who have never headed a ball in their lives. How does anyone prove that a particular case was caused by heading a ball? Can’t imagine the diminutive Nobby Styles was a regular header of the ball.

I mean, proving the link is just science. Repeated, low-level head trauma (rather than full on concussion/being knocked unconscious) has a serious, established link to CTE and dementia. This isn't based on one or two anecdotes, it's based on serious, rigorous scientific analysis.

At least one large study has shown ex pro-footballers develop dementia at a rate 3.5x that of the general population (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50124102)

There's a reasonable argument to say the adults should be allowed to take the risk based on their own judgement, and I think that's broadly where I sit on this topic, but just denying science because the outcomes are uncomfortable is not the right thing to do.

As for the question of the topic, I do think it's a bit more complex than ban/don't ban. There needs to be more awareness of the risk, which I think consenting adults should be allowed to take. At kids levels, I'd probably ban it if the evidence is that the risk at that age is the same or more - it'll probably make for better footballers anyway same as small pitch/smaller ball games have.

As for other sports - almost all contact sports have made some if not significant then at least meaningful strides towards treating concussions and head injuries more seriously (see any game of Rugby Union, or the various NFL court cases). Football seems to be ignoring it and that's not really okay - there are several incidences of players playing on after serious head injuries over the last few years which have been deeply uncomfortable.
« Last Edit: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 12:58:13 by Nemo » Logged
RobertT

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« Reply #11 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 13:01:47 »

In the event proof of a link exists, then you have to take it seriously.  Just as kids here are protected from the full rigour of the professional version of American Football until at High School, I;d suggest you need to do something for kids in football as well here.  Many have mentioned it's a choice, but at pre-16 age, it is far less of a choice.  We all had to play football from an early age as part of PE/Games, many kids here are not even interested, so placing kids at risk seems a bit callous if the evidence suggests there is an increased risk.  I think you'd then be hard pressed not to take some sort of restrictive action.  I think most kids begin choosing sports at around 14, so probably a way you could remove heading until then?
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RobertT

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« Reply #12 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 13:02:29 »

Oh, and after that, it's personal choice.  You have to be dumb to box, in my opinion, but if you want to, knock yourself out, literally.
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Abrahammer

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« Reply #13 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 13:20:45 »

Modern day footballs are bloody light as a feather anyway, unlike in the good old days of heading a bag of sand.

However it makes complete sense to limit the amount of heading in young kids football
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theakston2k

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« Reply #14 on: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 13:30:36 »

I mean, proving the link is just science. Repeated, low-level head trauma (rather than full on concussion/being knocked unconscious) has a serious, established link to CTE and dementia. This isn't based on one or two anecdotes, it's based on serious, rigorous scientific analysis.

At least one large study has shown ex pro-footballers develop dementia at a rate 3.5x that of the general population (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50124102)

There's a reasonable argument to say the adults should be allowed to take the risk based on their own judgement, and I think that's broadly where I sit on this topic, but just denying science because the outcomes are uncomfortable is not the right thing to do.

As for the question of the topic, I do think it's a bit more complex than ban/don't ban. There needs to be more awareness of the risk, which I think consenting adults should be allowed to take. At kids levels, I'd probably ban it if the evidence is that the risk at that age is the same or more - it'll probably make for better footballers anyway same as small pitch/smaller ball games have.

As for other sports - almost all contact sports have made some if not significant then at least meaningful strides towards treating concussions and head injuries more seriously (see any game of Rugby Union, or the various NFL court cases). Football seems to be ignoring it and that's not really okay - there are several incidences of players playing on after serious head injuries over the last few years which have been deeply uncomfortable.
Problem is ball technology has changed significantly from the time that all the players with dementia linked to football played the game. Back then although the ball had the same weight on paper, when added in mud and water and it became 2 or 3 times the normal weight. You're almost back to square one now on whether the issue is as significant now and need to see if any of the 90's onwards generation develop it. If you head a modern ball correctly you barely feel it to be honest which I imagine is a very different experience to a water logged ball from the 60's and 70's.
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