The first prospective injury audit of league of Ireland footballers.

Objectives Football has the highest sports participation (10.6%) in Ireland ahead of its Gaelic counterpart (3.9%). Research into injury incidence and patterns in Irish football is non-existent. The aim of this study was to conduct a prospective injury audit of league of Ireland (semi-professional) footballers during the 2014 season (8 months; 28 games). Methods A total of 140 semi-professional league of Ireland footballers were prospectively followed between March and November 2014. Data was collected in accordance with the international consensus on football injury epidemiology. Results The injury rate was 9.2/1000 h exposure to football (95% CI 6.2 to 12.9, P<0.05). Players were at a higher risk of injury during a match compared with training (23.1 (95% CI 15.2 to 31.3) vs. 4.8 (95% CI 2.2 to 7.7)/1000 h, P<0.05). Injuries were most common during non-contact activity (54.6%), mainly running (30.9%) and occurred almost 3 times more often in the second half (56% vs. 21%, P<05). Strains (50.1%) and sprains (20.3%) were the most common injury type and the thigh region was injured most often (28.3%). Conclusions The prevalence of injury in league of Ireland football is similar to that of European professional football although the incidence of injury is higher. The incidence of injury is in line with that of Dutch amateur football.