No ‘safe number of times' footballers can head ball, High Court told
Twenty-three former professional footballers and the families of a further 10 who have died are bringing the legal action against the Football Association (FA), Football League Ltd, and the Football Association of Wales (FAW), which are all defending the claims.
The claimants include the family of former England midfielder and 1966 World Cup winner, Norbert 'Nobby' Stiles, who died in 2020 after suffering from dementia and was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive brain condition caused by repeated blows to the head.
Susan Rodway KC, representing the players and their families, told a preliminary hearing in London on Thursday that none of their experts can provide the court with a safe number of times a ball can be headed.
She said: 'The way the case is now formed, we are saying there is no safe number of times a player can head the ball.
'Do they (defendants) agree that it is not safe, or can they put a number on it, do they have expert evidence?
'If that is the case, we say that the case continues but on the basis that the defendants will have exceeded even that safe level, unless they are going to say starkly that heading of the ball is safe, however much you do it.'
Ms Rodway added: 'It is a question of what the defendant knew or ought to have known, and what they could have done to prevent.'
Lawyers for the FA claimed in written submissions that the players and their families now suggest that heading should have been banned from matches and training from the 1960s.
Martin Porter KC, representing the FA, said the claimants allege 'heading is an 'unnecessary' part of the game of football'.
He also said they suggest that 'since at least the 1960s it was known or ought to have been known that repeated heading of the ball was dangerous and foreseeably leads to permanent brain injury and that accordingly it should have been 'gradually phased out and removed from match play and training'.'
'Consequently, the claimants' new primary case in relation to heading appears to be that it should have been banned from matches and training from the 1960s,' Mr Porter said.
He added: 'According to former professional players and their estates, either the FA should not have fielded a team in the 1966 World Cup, or they ought to have given them instructions not to head the ball.'
Lawyers for the claimants say they had not said or implied at any stage that heading should have been banned, but that their focus is on whether authorities knew of the risks and did not make players aware.
Judge Amanda Stevens, who was asked to rule on several preliminary matters at the hearing, was also told there are currently 90 additional male players who have entered into agreements to pursue their claims.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's tragic deaths show sport is nothing more than a joyful distraction from what truly matters
Jota will be remembered by the supporters of Liverpool forever A TRIBUTE TO JOTA Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's tragic deaths show sport is nothing more than a joyful distraction from what truly matters Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AT THIS time of year, with the transfer market abuzz, there is a tendency to view elite footballers as commodities. Their price-tags, fees, resale values and contract lengths are discussed by us all with the casual air of stockbrokers observing the gilt markets. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 9 Liverpool star Jota has tragically died aged 28 Credit: REUTERS 9 He and his brother Andre Silva have sadly lost their lives in a car accident Credit: FC Porto And then on a sunny morning in early July, chilling news arrived from Spain which made all of that talk sound so trivial, so brutal, so cold. Diogo Jota — newly wed to Rute Cardoso, his childhood sweetheart and mother of his three children — was dead at 28. Jota was a freshly crowned champion of England with Liverpool and a mainstay of the Portugal team who had just won the Nations League again and are rated as dark horses for next summer's World Cup. But above all Jota was a human being, as fragile as the rest of us. A husband, a father, a son and a brother to Andre Silva — the 25-year-old fellow professional footballer who perished with him yesterday when a tyre blew and his Lamborghini burst into flames. Jota was at the peak of his powers and in the prime of his life — married for just 11 days, he had posted footage of his wedding on social media just hours before his death. The poignance was agonising; the grief of those left behind unimaginable. When the news of Jota's death broke, it was a warm, sun-drenched summer's morning in England. 9 Jota played 49 times for Portugal Credit: Getty 9 Diogo Jota died just days after his wedding to Rute Cardoso Credit: 9 The All England Club was opening up its gates for day four on Wimbledon's lawns, the cricketers of England and India were preparing for the second day of the Second Test at Edgbaston and transfer speculation was fizzing around online. Then, suddenly, the world of sport froze. For while sport is the most important of unimportant things, we all know at heart that it is nothing more than a joyful distraction from that which truly matters. At Anfield, masses of floral tributes were left and warm respects paid. Liverpool is a club which has sadly experienced tragedy too often before and which honours those lost with a fierce, protective pride. At Anfield, Jota will never be forgotten. Few football clubs cherish their heroes quite as warmly and Jota the Slotter, the clinical finisher with that extraordinary burst of pace, was one of the best of Arne Slot's champions. Sometimes, while watching the Reds, you could forget that Jota was on the pitch. Then, with a sudden acceleration and a thrust of the boot, he had won them the match. He so often proved the matchwinner when arriving from the bench, in the Anfield supersub traditions of David Fairclough and Divock Origi. But as a deep-lying centre-forward or from the left wing, he was an integral part of the squad built by Jurgen Klopp, and honed by Slot, which won the title by a country mile last season. 9 Jota scored the first goal of the Slot era in a 2-0 opening-day victory at Ipswich and the last time he netted was the winner in the Merseyside derby in April. A little over a month ago, he cavorted on the Anfield pitch when Liverpool lifted the Premier League trophy. Jota, capped 49 times by his country, was not the star of his club or international teams. Those were Mo Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo. Yet football's Galacticos do not win trophies without the versatility and selfless work-rate of players like Jota. Still, his record of 65 goals in 182 appearances for the Reds was extraordinary for a player who was not a regular starter. In five seasons, he won every major domestic honour and played in a Champions League final, against Real Madrid in 2022, which Liverpool were unfortunate to lose 1-0. After spells with Pacos de Ferreira and Porto in his home town, Jota arrived in England at Wolves, on loan from Atletico Madrid, and helped to propel Nuno Espirito Santo's team from the Championship to the Europa League in three seasons. At Molineux, his loss was also deeply felt by a club where he was 'adored and cherished'. Yet this year had represented his peak, as a footballer and as a man. In the space of a month Jota won major honours with Liverpool and Portugal, then married his girlfriend of 12 years — the couple posing before the altar of a church in Porto with their two sons and baby daughter less than a fortnight ago. 'I'm the lucky one,' Jota had posted on social media. How heartbreaking those words read now. How fragile we are. 9 Floral tributes have been laid for Jota at Anfield Credit: Reuters 9 Jota shared pictures of his wedding just hours before he passed Credit: Instagram
Powys County Times
3 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Sarina Wiegman has ‘concern' with social media but won't police England's usage
England boss Sarina Wiegman concedes social media is a 'concern' but refuses to police her players' use of the platforms. Striker Alessia Russo recently revealed she will be avoiding social media at the Women's European Championship in Switzerland after falling into the scrolling 'trap' at the 2022 tournament, where the Lionesses secured their first major trophy, but others have suggested they will be less rigid. That home triumph catapulted both England's players and their manager into the public eye in ways both welcome and challenging. 'Yes, there is a concern,' said Wiegman, speaking from England's Zurich base on Wednesday. 'Of course you want to share, players, especially this generation, wants to share what they're doing, but you can't control how the outside world responds. And many people respond so nicely, but there's some that don't respond that well. 'With the team we make principles of how to use social media when and I would never say 'you're not allowed to use social media' because that's not how I work. 'We want to set standards, but I think coaching is about helping development, but also giving players responsibility – from being dependent to independent and helping players make their own decisions and understand what the consequence of their decisions can be. Training ✅Sightseeing on Lake Zurich ✅ Day two in Switzerland🇨🇭 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 2, 2025 'And then, yes, sometimes you make a mistake and then you learn from a mistake. That's why I also think making mistakes are so important to learn from it.' Wiegman could lift her third straight European trophy as a coach – and first away from home – having also led her native the Netherlands to glory on home soil in 2017. The 55-year-old feels she has become more relaxed about rules since arriving in England in September 2021, and likens the team to a family where the bonds between members vary and disagreements inevitably arise. Build-up to this tournament was hardly harmonious. Two popular players from Wiegman's Euro 2022-winning squad, goalkeeper Mary Earps and attacking midfielder Fran Kirby, called quits on their international careers days before the June 5 squad announcement, then World Cup captain Millie Bright withdrew from selection in order to address her physical and mental health. In the wake, Wiegman, to whom criticism had been largely limited to tactical or selection choices, was facing questions from some corners about her personal approach. And while Wiegman has grown to love a Sunday roast, she admitted sometimes navigating the English preference for subtext can be difficult for someone accustomed to Dutch directness. 'For me, I am actually very caring and that's often not very helpful in this job,' she said. 'I want to take care of people, but I have a job where I have to make hard decisions. Then I, as a former player and maybe as a mum, I'm trying to not put myself in their shoes and think 'oh, they must feel horrible' because I have to shut that out for that moment.' Wiegman added: 'When I have conversations with players, I think it's really important to have clarity. 'Especially now closer to the tournament that I give clarity that tomorrow things could change like [that]. 'What I try to do is give them as much information as possible. The players call that direct but I think, do not confuse that with being blunt. I am not blunt – well, I hope not. I am trying to be honest and clear about things to give them context.'
South Wales Argus
5 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Sarina Wiegman has ‘concern' with social media but won't police England's usage
Striker Alessia Russo recently revealed she will be avoiding social media at the Women's European Championship in Switzerland after falling into the scrolling 'trap' at the 2022 tournament, where the Lionesses secured their first major trophy, but others have suggested they will be less rigid. That home triumph catapulted both England's players and their manager into the public eye in ways both welcome and challenging. Russo, right, revealed she will be staying off social media (Nick Potts/PA) 'Yes, there is a concern,' said Wiegman, speaking from England's Zurich base on Wednesday. 'Of course you want to share, players, especially this generation, wants to share what they're doing, but you can't control how the outside world responds. And many people respond so nicely, but there's some that don't respond that well. 'With the team we make principles of how to use social media when and I would never say 'you're not allowed to use social media' because that's not how I work. 'We want to set standards, but I think coaching is about helping development, but also giving players responsibility – from being dependent to independent and helping players make their own decisions and understand what the consequence of their decisions can be. Training ✅Sightseeing on Lake Zurich ✅ Day two in Switzerland🇨🇭 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 2, 2025 'And then, yes, sometimes you make a mistake and then you learn from a mistake. That's why I also think making mistakes are so important to learn from it.' Wiegman could lift her third straight European trophy as a coach – and first away from home – having also led her native the Netherlands to glory on home soil in 2017. The 55-year-old feels she has become more relaxed about rules since arriving in England in September 2021, and likens the team to a family where the bonds between members vary and disagreements inevitably arise. Build-up to this tournament was hardly harmonious. Two popular players from Wiegman's Euro 2022-winning squad, goalkeeper Mary Earps and attacking midfielder Fran Kirby, called quits on their international careers days before the June 5 squad announcement, then World Cup captain Millie Bright withdrew from selection in order to address her physical and mental health. In the wake, Wiegman, to whom criticism had been largely limited to tactical or selection choices, was facing questions from some corners about her personal approach. And while Wiegman has grown to love a Sunday roast, she admitted sometimes navigating the English preference for subtext can be difficult for someone accustomed to Dutch directness. 'For me, I am actually very caring and that's often not very helpful in this job,' she said. England are aiming to defend their European crown in Switzerland (Nick Potts/PA) 'I want to take care of people, but I have a job where I have to make hard decisions. Then I, as a former player and maybe as a mum, I'm trying to not put myself in their shoes and think 'oh, they must feel horrible' because I have to shut that out for that moment.' Wiegman added: 'When I have conversations with players, I think it's really important to have clarity. 'Especially now closer to the tournament that I give clarity that tomorrow things could change like [that]. 'What I try to do is give them as much information as possible. The players call that direct but I think, do not confuse that with being blunt. I am not blunt – well, I hope not. I am trying to be honest and clear about things to give them context.'
