The pressure is on in Europe’s top football leagues, and it’s not just on the pitch. A new report from insurance firm Howden has revealed a worrying trend of rising injuries across the continent’s most competitive leagues. The fourth edition of their Men’s European Football Injury Index paints a stark picture of the physical toll these demanding schedules are taking on players.
While the Bundesliga boasts the highest injury rate among the Premier League, LaLiga, Ligue 1, and Serie A, it’s the English Premier League that carries the heaviest financial burden of these injuries. The 2023-24 season saw a combined 4,123 injuries across these five leagues, a 4% increase from the previous year and a staggering 37% jump compared to 2020-21. These injuries cost clubs a collective €732 million ($797.73 million) in wages paid to players while sidelined. In total, since the report’s inception in 2020-21, European top leagues have witnessed a staggering 14,292 injuries, resulting in €2.3 billion in lost salaries.
This alarming trend comes amidst growing concerns about player welfare, particularly with the expansion of the Club World Cup and the revamp of UEFA’s club competitions adding even more pressure to already congested domestic schedules. The players’ union, FIFPRO Europe, and domestic leagues have issued warnings about the risk of players resorting to strike action to address these mounting concerns.
James Burrows, Head of Sport at Howden, emphasized the escalating physical demands on players, stating, “As fixture congestion intensifies with expanded competitions domestically and internationally, we are seeing more players sidelined for longer periods, with a notable 5% rise in injury costs this season alone.” The report highlights a particularly concerning trend of increased injury severity among Premier League players under 21, with each injury resulting in an average 44-day layoff – a significant increase from 26.5 days in the previous season.
Knee injuries across all age groups reached a new peak last season, with 367 reported across the top leagues, costing clubs €141 million. Overall, the five leagues saw an injury occur every 92 minutes, costing teams an average of €172,975 per game. The Bundesliga, however, stands out with an injury occurring every 52 minutes, with Darmstadt experiencing an injury every 33 minutes. Borussia Mönchengladbach became only the second team to record over 100 injuries in a season since the report’s first publication.
Despite experiencing a slight decrease in total injuries from 944 in 2022-23 to 915 in 2023-24, the Premier League accounted for a staggering 44% of injury costs across the five leagues last season. English clubs paid out a combined €318 million in injury-related costs, compared to €142 million for LaLiga. Manchester United led the Premier League in injury costs with €39 million, resulting from 75 injuries, while Newcastle United topped the list for most injuries with 76. In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich’s 96 injuries cost €39 million, while champion Bayer Leverkusen recorded only 36 injuries, costing €3.45 million.
The Howden report paints a concerning picture of the strain on players in Europe’s top football leagues. With the continued expansion of international and domestic competitions, the issue of player welfare and the escalating cost of injuries are bound to remain at the forefront of the sport’s discussions.
