The purpose of this study was to investigate counselors’ professional understanding of the long-term psychological consequences of injury in UK football players. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 counselors who were registered to work for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA). The interviews examined the counselors’ perception of the relationship between long-term injury and presenting mental health issues, the antecedents to those mental health issues, and recommendations for psychological intervention following injury. The critical finding was the mental health problems regularly presented to PFA counselors were often the psychological and behavioral consequences of long-term injury. Counselors recommended that early and sustained psychological intervention with long-term injured players would act as a preventative measure against future mental health issues.

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Athletes regularly suffer psychologically as a consequence of long-term injury.However, to date there has been no investigation into the psychological protocols implemented to support long-term injured professional footballers. An online questionnaire was developed to identify the current rehabilitation practices in English football. 75 heads of medical departments responded to the survey from first teams and academies across the English Leagues. Medical staff recognised that there were clinical mental health problems, namely anxiety and depression affecting long-term injured players. It was acknowledged that there was a need for psychological support for long-term injured players. However, findings revealed most clubs had limited access to psychological practitioners and physiotherapy staff were almost entirely responsible for providing psychological support throughout rehabilitation. Clubs responded overwhelmingly that they wanted to be able to access psychological support for long-term injured players.

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