Objectives We aimed to analyze injury trends and the possible effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the incidence rates of injury in young elite football players. Design A prospective cohort study design was adopted. Participants Our study included 832 male football players who suffered an injury during any of the six competitive seasons. Setting An elite youth football academy. Main outcome measure Descriptive data and the incidence of injury were calculated. A generalized linear mixed model was used to assess differences in the occurrence of injury among the various age groups. Joinpoint regression was used to analyze injury trends. Results Joinpoint regression models showed a statistically significant decrease in the incidence of injury in all age groups with an average annual percent change (AAPC) of 13.9 (95 %Confidence Interval [CI]:-23.2 - 3.4) and -13.5 (95 %CI:-24.5 to -0.9) for models with zero and one joinpoint, respectively. Football players in older age groups sustain a higher number of injuries, probably due to a higher number of matches and greater training intensity. Conclusion This study showed a downward trend in injuries in the participants prior to the pandemic, with an evident increase in the incidence rate of injury during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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