Question: Does 'headering' the ball give you brain damage?

Darren Rhodes answered on 7 Nov 2016:

Well this is a controversial topic!

There is quite a bit of research suggesting that heading a football MAY cause some concussions and long-term brain problems for some individuals. I resist using the word ‘damage’ here, as I think it suggests that one single incident might cause brain damage – when, rather, I think is more of a build up on heading a ball for many years.

There is some other research that just says well – only a small minority of footballers get long-lasting side effect from heading a football – so we shouldn’t worry about it too much.

This debate is going on right now.. And this is a good lesson about where science and reasoning comes in. Being as the evidence does not say either way, we must wait to make conclusions until there is enough evidence to do so!