Objectives To compare the effect of a newly conceived daily injury prevention programme with FIFA11+ on injury incidence and severity in academy football players. Design Randomised controlled trial. Setting Football academy. Participants Ninety-three male academy football players were randomly assigned to either the control group (FIFA11+ or FIFA11+ Kids) or the intervention group (new injury prevention programme). Main outcome measures Injury incidence rate (per 1000 hours) and severity (days lost). Results Over 6 months, the control group recorded 45 injuries (incidence rate = 9.07/1000 hours), while the intervention group recorded 50 injuries (incidence rate = 10.10/1000 hours). The median number of days lost was 16 [95% confidence interval: 11, 27] in the control group and 15 [95% confidence interval: 7, 23] in the intervention group. No significant differences were found in injury incidence or severity between the two groups. Conclusions The newly conceived injury prevention programme was as effective as the FIFA11+ in reducing injury incidence and severity, thus representing an easy-to-implement injury prevention programme for football academies. Trial registration The trial was registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12623000359639) retrospectively, as it was initially conducted for academic purposes, negating the requirement for prospective registration. Highlights • Football can increase injury risk in young players, affecting their development. • FIFA11+ reduces injuries but has low adherence due to time and supervision demands. • A new 10-minute daily injury prevention programme was as effective as FIFA11+. • Both programmes resulted in similar injury rates and time lost due to injury. • The new programme offers a time-efficient, easy-to-implement alternative to FIFA11+.
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