New heading rules for Premier League to under-12s football

Headers from corners and crosses will count as "higher force headers"

All footballers in England will have to stick to new guidance from the Football Association (FA) about heading the ball from the start of the 2021/22 season.

That means footballers from the Premier League and the Women's Super League right through to Sunday league teams will have to follow the new rules.

The new rules have been made to try and protect players from health problems associated with headers.

In 2019, a study found professional footballers were more likely to suffer from brain diseases later in life and it is thought heading the ball might be one of the reasons this happens.

One of the biggest changes is a recommendation that professional players do a maximum number of 10 high impact headers in any one training week.

Higher force headers include ones from a long pass, cross, corners or free kick.

The FA say the rules on "higher force headers" are designed to "protect player welfare and will be reviewed regularly as further research is undertaken" on the effect of regularly heading a football.

It also suggests that headers are practised using lower impact ways, for example when the ball is thrown to the player rather than kicked.

Similar rules on limiting the number of high force headers in training will apply to amateur and grassroots clubs.

The guidance adds to new rules set out for youth football in February.

Heading the ball in training will be very different

New rules for youth football

The rules set out in February banned heading in training for under 12s.

Those guideline have been updated with new plans for a steady increase in heading practise between the ages of 12 and 16, as well as a new set of rules on ball sizes for different age groups.

There aren't any new rules for heading in youth-age matches though.

All levels of the game for men and women will be affected

Why bring in the new rules?

There's been a lot of research into the risks of heading a football in recent years, Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters explained this decision was taken "to make the game as safe as possible for all players."

The bosses of the Football League and associations all agreed on the importance of these rules and further research. "More research is required to improve how we protect current players and future generations," said Maheta Molango, Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers Association - a group that represents players in the UK.

Clubs will be asked to record how players head the ball

New monitoring rules

Professional clubs, that means clubs involved in the main leagues that pay their players, will be expected to "develop player profiles" as well.

This will be a detailed record of the player, their age, how much they head the ball in games and what sort of headers they do.

Amateurs are also being advised to keep an eye on their own heading activity.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: "We are committed to further medical research to gain an understanding of any risks within football. In the meantime, this reduces a potential risk factor.

"It is important to remember that the overwhelming medical evidence is that football and other sports have positive impacts on both mental and physical health."

What do you think of these new rules? Let us know in the comments.