Joe Roberts

Mon 7 August 2023 17:44, UK

West Brom Director of Medical Tony Strudwick has claimed that the EFL’s new injury time rules could give players the equivalent of eight extra matches a season while costing clubs in excess of £200,000 per year.

Taking to Twitter (5 August), Strudwick noted that if each Championship match had an extra 15 minutes of added time, it would equate to around eight extra matches which would put significant extra demand on players.

The World Cup-style stoppage time changes aim to reduce the amount of wasted time in matches, with matches in the Championship only having an average of 52 minutes of game time. Strudwick then claimed on Twitter (7 August) that the additional medical costs could total £200,000 per season for clubs.

Strudwick said: “If every game in Championship plays 15 mins added time, that equates to approximately 8 games per season playing time. Which is an additional 17% output. Rule changes will push demands on all squads.

“Injuries are rising in football. The proportion of all injury absence days caused by hamstring injuries has increased from 10% in 2001/02 to 20% in 2021/22. Incidence and medical claim costs have continued to rise exponentially. Claims in excess of £200,000 per year for teams.”

True

With players having to play more and more games, the fears about pushing their bodies too far have been raised for some time.

However, the EFL’s new laws have seen some matches last much longer than normal, with BBC Sport claiming that all but two matches in the Football League this weekend lasted over 100 minutes.

These issues have been raised by some of the sports’ leading voices, including Premier League managers Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. However, it is the players that are most impacted. The Championship campaign is notably gruelling, with 46 games spread across the season including the jam-packed winter, not to mention cup obligations.

This would result in more injuries, more fatigued players and worst of all perhaps players playing so much that they shorten their careers.

Strudwick’s view of the financial cost of the rules changes is interesting. While £200,000 is never an insignificant amount of money, it would mean a lot more to Championship sides and below compared to the richer Premier League sides, meaning the lower ends of the pyramid suffer more.

For West Brom themselves, £200,000 would be a significant extra cost considering their current financial issues.

While the rule change makes sense on paper, perhaps such a change in the way we play and watch football should be reconsidered.

In other West Brom news, a young Baggies forward has wowed Carlos Corberan with his pre-season displays.