The FA's concussion guidelines for football and brain health

This area is dedicated to brain health in football. It provides essential information, research and guidance for heading and concussion guidelines.

Concussion in football

Concussion is a relatively common injury in football. Can you spot the signs?

Heading in Football

Here, you’ll find information on the trial to remove deliberate heading in football matches at U12 level and below together with guidance on heading in training.

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Research Studies

In 2017, The FA and The PFA funded an independent research study from the University of Glasgow. This study, known as the FIELD study, is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and used medical records to understand the risk of dementia in ex-professional footballers.

In 2018, The FA and the PFA appointed the University of Nottingham to conduct an independent research study into the long-term brain health of former professional footballers. The first two FOCUS studies, led by Weiya Zhang at the Versus Arthritis Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis, have been peer reviewed and published by Sports Medicine - Open.

FIELD

The FIELD study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, using medical records to understand the risk of dementia in ex-professional footballers.