New findings on footballers and head injuries

Former football players are around half as likely to be admitted to hospital for anxiety and stress related disorders, depression, drug and alcohol-use disorders, and bipolar and affective mood disorders.

They’re also no more likely to die by suicide than a control group, according to research involving data on more than 7,000 former professional football players.

There is growing awareness of the greater risk of neurodegenerative disease among contact sports players.

Among former professional football players, it is around three-and-a-half-fold higher than anticipated, the study states.