Players share invaluable insights and experiences at Project ACL launch event

• FIFPRO, the PFA, Nike, and Leeds Beckett University are collaborating on Project ACL to accelerate research into reducing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in women’s football

• Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), Lucy Staniforth and Rachel Corsie (both Aston Villa) spoke on a player panel at the project’s launch event in London, England

• Project ACL comes after calls from players for further understanding on the subject; ACL injuries are two to six times more likely to occur in women than men, according to research

Players from the FA Women’s Super League (WSL) gave their reflections and insights on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and recovery in women’s football at the Project ACL launch event in London, England on Wednesday 11 September.

Aston Villa duo Rachel Corsie and Lucy Staniforth, who both have lived experience of returning from an ACL injury, spoke on a player panel with Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), who completed a university dissertation on ACL injuries in women's football. The panel was hosted by former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis.

Project ACL is a collaboration between FIFPRO, the Professional Footballers' Association, Nike, and Leeds Beckett University dedicated to accelerating research after calls from players into the concerning number ACL injuries in women's football.

ACL injuries, which can take players a minimum of nine months to recover from, are two to six times more likely to occur in women than men, and about two-thirds of ACL injuries occur in women’s football when there is no physical contact, yet there is little understanding about how to reduce these injuries in professional women’s footballers.

Speaking about Project ACL, Bronze said: "Bringing everyone together helps to raise more awareness for the project that's happening and raise more awareness for why it needs to happen in general.

"As soon as your team-mates have done their ACL, that's it for a long period of time. You struggle in many different ways with it because there's not this one smooth journey of having an operation, everything will be fine, and then nine months you'll play. Sometimes it takes longer. Sometimes you get back playing and you still have problems or you need two operations or, you're more at risk of doing your ACL on the other leg or even the same one. I think that's why it's such a daunting injury for any player."

Bronze, who has had six knee surgeries in her career, completed a university dissertation on ACL injuries. She said: “When I was at university, I had a serious injury and I decided to base my studies around rehab injuries, and ACL [injuries] and women's sport particularly stuck out to me because I could see that there was something that didn't quite fit: why were women doing their ACLs more?"

Scotland international Corsie pointed out the mental effects of the injury. "I think one of the biggest challenges is more the mental and emotional obstacles that you come across – and those are really different for everyone during that journey.

"That's something that a lot of people allude to, but maybe don't delve into. There is a really strong correlation between that emotional and mental strain that players are under that sometimes causes you to end up picking up these injuries."

While women’s football in England has witnessed significant growth in recent times, the varying levels of professionalisation behind the scenes are evident, with many clubs still playing “catch-up” according to Staniforth. She said: "What we get at Villa now is cutting-edge, but like we've said many times you're playing catch up. When I look back at clubs that have seemed smaller, that bar has risen massively.

"Most women's players have had staff that are maybe fresh out of university or coming from a men's football background that don't necessarily have the knowledge and appreciation of what a women’s athlete needs.

"This project will be a big start for those staff members to better serve players. It’s important to ensure that it’s female-specific and for the betterment of the players, not just because it's cheap or because it's an easy alternative."

Brown-Finnis issued a rallying call for women’s football stakeholders to listen to the players on ACL injuries. "What I've got out of this is that the players need to be at the forefront of these discussions so that we can implement the change.

"The stakeholders have to come to the players and work with them to extricate that golden information that will help change women's football and women's sports."

Why Project ACL can make a difference in women’s football

Over the next three years, Project ACL’s partners will work proactively with clubs and players in the WSL to better understand their current working environment, identify best practice and provide solutions to support the reduction of ACL injuries.

The project will review existing academic research related to professional women’s football, ACL injuries and existing injury reduction programs, and will survey all of the 12 WSL clubs to better understand their resources, access to facilities, and identify best practice. Project ACL will also provide real-time tracking of the workload, travel and ‘critical zone’ appearances of WSL players through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool.

After the player panel, Dr Alex Culvin, FIFPRO’s Director of Policy and Strategic Relations for Women's Football, engaged in a fireside chat with the Guardian’s women’s football correspondent Suzy Wrack, where the importance of the player voice in driving Project ACL was highlighted.