Heading in football: Dawn Astle welcomes new limit in training for professionals in England

A joint statement from the FA, PFA, Premier League, English Football League and League Managers Association said that “based on early findings, which showed the majority of headers involve low forces, the initial focus of the guidance [for professional football] will be on headers that involve higher forces.”

However, it adds that the recommended limit of 10 higher force headers in any training week “will be reviewed regularly as further research is undertaken to understand more regarding the impact of heading in football”.

“I’d like to see the restrictions of heading as a whole, not just the high force heading,” said Astle.

“What we don’t want is for any player, regardless of whether they’re elite level or children playing on a Saturday and Sunday, to be thinking that what they call the low force headers are OK, and there is no concern, because they are equally worrying.”