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Non‐contact lower limb injuries are common in academy football. Yet, the impact these injuries have on strength development in academy footballers remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of non‐contact lower limb injury on hip, groin, and knee flexor strength development in male academy youth footballers. Furthermore, this study: reports normative strength data of emerging field‐based tests that can be easily deployed in football academies; explores the effect of age on injury occurrence; and highlights the number of days lost from injury in male youth footballers. Assessments of hip adductor, abductor, and eccentric knee flexor strength were obtained from 195 academy football players during pre‐season and at the end of season. In‐season injuries were recorded by medical staff. Those footballers who sustained non‐contact lower limb injury were compared with those who did not sustain a non‐contact lower limb injury. No between‐group differences were observed for any strength assessments when controlled for pre‐season measures. Stronger footballers at pre‐season experienced strength loses, while those weaker players gained strength across the season. Hip strength development was impaired in older age group footballers. Sustaining a non‐contact lower limb injury had minimal impact on strength development. In the absence of in‐season lower limb strength monitoring, development in academy youth footballers may not progress as expected, and in particular, stronger and older youth athletes may benefit from individualized strength training.

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Conducting field-based strength assessments is embedded within football academy development processes. Yet, there is a limited understanding of how hip and groin strength assessments relate to vital game-based tasks such as sprinting and change of direction (COD) performance. Our aim was to explore field-based strength assessments and their relationships with both sprint and COD performance in male academy footballers. Participants (n = 146; age 14.2 ± 2.2 years; stature 166.3 ± 15.4 cm; body mass 55.6 ± 15.6 kg) performed maximal countermovement jump (CMJ), Nordic hamstring strength (NHS), isometric hip adductor (ADD)/abductor (ABD), 5 m, 10 m, 20 m sprints, and modified 505 agility test. All strength measures were allometrically scaled to account for body weight. Betweenlimb differences were reported as imbalance scores. Principal component analysis reduced sprint and COD variables to a single "running ability" component score.Scaled strength and imbalance, when controlled for age, were associated with "running ability" (adjusted R 2 = 0.78, p < 0.001). Significant effects on "running ability" included the following: age, CMJ impulse, NHS, and hip-ADD. When the sprint and COD variables were explored independently, age and CMJ-impulse were featured in all sprint and COD models. For 10 m and 20 m sprint distances, hip-ADD emerged as a significant effect. Mean 505 performance was explained by age, CMJimpulse, hip-ADD, but also with the addition of NHS. Our findings suggest that insight into the underpinning strength qualities of "running ability" of academy footballers can be obtained from a suite of field-based tests.

Athletes experience a number of within-career transitions that expose them to a multitude of demands. The club-to-international transition (CIT) is one transition that has received minimal attention. Through cognitive-motivational-relational-theory (CMRT; Lazarus, 1999), we sought to address this gap by exploring the psychosocial demands, and their situational properties, football (soccer) players experience during the CIT. Fourteen age-group international players, and 10 coaches (four club; six international) were interviewed. Using thematic analysis, a range of performance (e.g., competition intensity), organisational (e.g., new organisational culture), and personal demands (e.g., evolving identity), and situational properties (e.g., novelty, ambiguity) were identified. Further, the CIT was perceived as a unique adversity, due to its fluctuating and ambiguous nature. For example, international selection is never guaranteed and is predicated on current performance at club and international level. To positively negotiate this transition, we suggest players need to develop key psychological resources (e.g., mental toughness, resilience) and rely on organisational relationships (e.g., clear feedback processes), which assist them in taking ownership over their development. Our research has worldwide reach through offering international level organisations novel insights to help support players making the CIT and facilitate bespoke interventions that will positively impact both individual player development and long-term performance success.