Frequency and trends in foot and ankle injuries within an English Premier League Football Club using a new impact factor of injury to identify a focus for injury prevention

• We show data from an English Premier League Football Club.
• Foot and ankle injury is common occurring at a rate of 7.2 per 1000 h play.
• ATFL injuries are common and significant resulting in a high impact factor.
• The impact factor identifies injuries on which to target injury prevention.

BackgroundFoot and ankle injuries are common in football. Prevention strategies exist in order to decrease the incidence of such injuries and minimize the number of days that a player is unavailable for selection.MethodsInjuries were recorded over a 4-season period while the team was playing in the English Premier League (EPL). We present the epidemiology of foot and ankle injuries within a professional football club and offer a calculation that may be of use in the future to identify areas of injury prevention.ResultsAnterior Talo-Fibular Ligament (ATFL) injuries and fifth metatarsal fractures were of high impact as they were both common and resulted in significant time periods where the player was unavailable.ConclusionsThis is the first time an EPL club has been prepared to publish data regarding injury. Our findings may be used by others to focus their prevention strategies on the injuries with the highest impact.