Discussion
injuries, reduced injury, hip/groin
The main findings were that almost one in five male amateur football players and one in four female amateur football players reported presence of an injury at a given week. The hip/groin was the most injured anatomical region in males, and the knee in females. Older players (≥ 25 years) and players who had had an ongoing injury at the start of season had an increased risk of a new injury during the season.The high proportion of injuries in the lower extremity is in line with previous research in football [The total (23.9 vs 18.0%) and substantial (13.0 vs 11.1%) weekly injury prevalence was slightly higher for female players. A higher rate of more severe injuries in female football players compared to their male counterparts [Higher age and previous and present injury at the start of the season were identified as risk factors for injury during the season, which tallies with previous studies. Higher injury incidence in older players has been reported in youth football [Injury beliefs were associated with injury incidence with 7% reduced injury rate for each unit of change towards a belief that it is unlikely to sustain an injury. This could be interpreted as the player’s perception of injury risk was adequate, i.e. the players could make a reasonable estimation of their risk of injury. This contrasts with previous research suggesting that perception of low injury risk could be associated with a risk-taking behaviour [