Injury problems are going to get worse... we’re just seeing tip of the iceberg

IN 40 years working as one of the top surgeons in sport, Bill Ribbans has never seen a title or trophy won in the operating theatre.

But he fears that might be about to change.

Premier League footballers are already paying the price for Project Restart – and a season which will see many of them spend next summer at the Euros after a year in which a game every three days has become the norm.

Liverpool, for example, have already lost Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez (right) with long-term knee injuries, while Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Alisson and Thiago Alcantara have also felt the strain.

Professor Ribbans says: “As refreshing as Liverpool’s style of all-out aggressive, attacking football has been since Jurgen Klopp became their manager, wear and tear will take its toll on players when they have limited rest and recuperation.

“But it won’t just be Liverpool with injuries. I am worried that what they are experiencing now will just be the tip of the iceberg.

“Clubs have had no real pre-season, the whole campaign has been condensed and players are playing three games a week every week.

“The Euros will start less than three weeks after the Premier League season ends.

“And next season they have got to fit the Nations League into another hectic season after yet another short postseason.

“Something is likely to give with that kind of schedule. And my view is that we will only see the really damaging effects of what players are putting themselves through after the World Cup in November 2022 and probably into the summer of 2023.

“Over the next few years we might see Premier League titles, Champions Leagues, European Championships and even the World Cup decided in the physio room and on the operating table. “That’s not really sport, is it?” Ribbans, 65, will hang up his scalpel in March after a career spent up to his neck in broken bones, torn tendons and ruptured ligaments.

Born- and- bred in Northampton, he has been on the staff of local football, rugby union and cricket clubs, and has also worked for the British Board of Boxing Control.

Grateful patients include Olympic gold medalists Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford.

And he was on the NHS py payroll at Northampton General Hospital al in

1999 when he repaired Michael el Schumacher’s shattered leg after a crash at Silverstone.

Professor Ribbans has written a book – ‘Knife in the Fast Lane’ – about his time at t the sharp end of sports medicine. ne.

It’s a gripping tale that includes ncl des weird and wonderful stories about monkey gland injections, the healing powers of placenta and why some football managers believe players can beat injury by having their wisdom teeth removed.

It could be used as a valuable reference point on the lessons sport needs to learn going forward to protect athletes’ health.

Ribbans (below) believes, for example, that football’s governing bodies must commit themselves to discovering whet whether there is a correlation be between heading a ball and an in increased risk of dementia.

He said: “Something has to b be done, because from my u understanding the hope that lig lighter footballs will mean less dam damage to players’ brains is a fl false one.

“A Scottish study claimed former players were up to five times more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s in later life.

“But what is required are larger studies, perhaps lasting 20 years, that start with psychological testing on players at a young age.

“That’s going to involve huge numbers of players and an awful lot of money, but we really do need to find out.

“If studies show there is a link then it will be a game-changer for football. Heading might be outlawed.

“I would imagine the minimum that would happen is that it will be limited, with heading perhaps only allowed inside the penalty area.

“When we lost Nobby Stiles recently it means that five of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team have either died from or are suffering with some form of dementia.

“My view is the same now as it has always been: we must protect our athletes the best we can.”

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