To develop specific preventive strategies, it is necessary to investigate in detail the occurrence of injuries in young football players. This study aimed to provide details about the type, location, severity, and contact nature of muscle injuries in elite U15 Croatian football players. A total number of 130 muscle injuries occurred during the six competitive seasons, of which 88 were DOMS injuries and 42 were rupture injuries. Specifically, 87% of all muscle injuries belonged to the four major groups, with only 15 injuries to the other muscle groups: hamstrings (43), quadriceps (41), adductors (25), calves (6). The muscle injury incidence was stable during the observed period as the injury incidence rate ratio (IRR) was 1.01 (95%CI: 0.99–1.03), with 3.13 (95%CI: 3.09–3.17) muscle injuries per 1000 h of exposure in the first season and 3.06 (95%CI: 3.02–3.1) in the sixth season. A significantly higher risk for muscle injuries was discovered in the competition as the incidence for the whole observed period was 7.38 (95%CI: 7.29–7.47) compared to 2.25 (95%CI: 2.24–2.26) in the training period. Despite the relatively stable number of sustained muscle injuries, the relative proportion of muscular injuries increased over the years due to a severe decrease in the total number of injuries. Regarding the proportion of players who had sustained a muscle injury, our results suggest that approximately two out of five players can expect a muscular injury over the one-season period. Relatively high injury expectancy rates, as well as reinjury rates, require specific preventive interventions that will reduce the number and severity of new and recurred injuries. Future studies should include a wide set of predictor variables in order to establish the most important injury risk factors.

Although the effect of coach turnover is often discussed within the football community, there is a very limited body of knowledge on this topic. This study aimed to explore which coaching turnovers are associated with changes in injury incidence in an elite professional football club. A longitudinal study observed injury occurrence across the eight-season period, with the team experiencing 16 coaching changes, averaging 2 per season. All injuries were continuously monitored regularly recorded and saved in the club’s database. They were analyzed over three-time frames: for each season, 2 weeks after the coach was sacked, and also for 4 weeks after the coaching change. A paired sample t-test was used separately for the overall injuries and specifically for muscle injuries in the observed time frames. Overall injuries had an increase of 27.7% and 35.4% in the two and four weeks after coaching turnovers, respectively, while for muscle injuries, these rates were lower and amounted to 5.5% and 8.1%. There were no statistically significant changes, but a medium effect size was reported when comparing overall injuries in 4 weeks and the season in general. Muscle injuries appear to be less negatively affected by coaching changes. Club coaching and medical staff should be especially careful in controlling the training load and recovery techniques in the transition periods while also maintaining the club’s preventive methodology.

Injuries in elite youth football may disrupt training continuity and long-term development, particularly during the post-peak height velocity (post-PHV) period when training and match demands increase. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine injury incidence and describe injury patterns in elite U17 football players across six consecutive competitive seasons, including injury type, anatomical location, mechanism, recurrence, and severity. A prospective longitudinal injury-surveillance design was implemented in one elite football academy from 2016/2017 to 2021/2022. Injuries were recorded in the club’s medical database using the international consensus time-loss definition. Injury incidence per 1000 h was calculated for overall exposure, training, and matches, and injuries were analyzed by diagnosis, mechanism, recurrence, and severity. Across the study period, 331 injuries were recorded. Overall injury incidence was 6.95/1000 h, with markedly higher incidence in matches (20.61/1000 h) than training (5.82/1000 h). Seasonal incidence ranged from 4.49/1000 h in 2019/2020 to 9.31/1000 h in 2021/2022. The proportion of injured players ranged from 48% to 76% per season. The most frequent injuries were contusions and muscle cramps/DOMS, followed by ligament injuries, tendinosis, and muscle ruptures. Knee, thigh, ankle, and hip/groin were the most affected regions. Most diagnoses showed a predominantly non-contact pattern. These findings support targeted prevention and load-management strategies in elite youth football.

Objective: To determine and analyse the influence of techni-cal and tactical parameters on performance in the Croatian First Football League during the first phase of the competi-tion in the 2021/2022 season.Methods: The sample comprised 90 matches in the Croatian First Football League, which was played in a round-robin tournament and included 10 clubs in the season. A sam-ple of 30 situational efficiency variables obtained from the SofaScore application was used to assess the signifi-cance of individual variables’ impact on match outcomes: Multinomial logistic regression was conducted.Results: The variables with a statistically significant influ-ence on the outcome of matches in the First Croatian Football League were=ball possession (odds ratio (OR)=0.045; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.002–0.951), shots OR=0.922; 95% CI=0.863–0.985), shots on target (OR=0.669; 95% CI=0.557–0.805), offside (OR=0.684; 95% CI=0.515–0.907) and big chances (OR=0.538; 95% CI=0.393–0.737).Conclusion: An attacking style of football, characterised by a high proportion of possession and a high attacking frequen-cy (shots, shots on target, offside and big chances), has been shown to be significantly related to a team’s success. This study can help coaches and football experts to better plan and structure training processes, strategy and match exe-cution.

This longitudinal study investigated the incidence and characteristics of injuries among U9, U11, and U13 male football players in an academy setting over a six-season period, from 2016/17 to 2021/22. A total of 374 injuries were analyzed, with a particular focus on muscle injuries, including Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), muscle ruptures, and contusions. The study revealed that the highest injury incidence occurred in the U13 group, with quadriceps injuries being most prevalent in both the U13 and U11 groups. The study found that muscle injuries accounted for a significant proportion of all injuries, particularly in the U13 group, where muscle injuries increased over time. Intrinsic factors such as physical development during puberty and extrinsic factors like training intensity and psychological pressures may contribute to the higher injury rates in older age groups. Additionally, seasonal fluctuations in injury rates were observed, with a notable decline during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2019/20 and 2020/21, followed by an increase post-lockdown due to deconditioning. The study highlights the vulnerability of young athletes to muscle injuries, particularly during growth spurts, and calls for further research into training methods and injury prevention strategies to mitigate these risks.