Heading to be banned for under-12s in landmark English football trial

England will become the first European country to trial a heading ban in young children’s football due to fears over the link between head impacts and devastating neurological disease.

Landmark research published in 2019 by the University of Glasgow – and which followed a Telegraph Sport campaign – found that former professional footballers were 3.5 times more likely to die of dementia than the rest of the population.

Half of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team have been diagnosed with dementia but the wider rates have showed no sign of slowing even among players who played in later eras, including since the Premier League’s formation in 1992.

The FA previously reacted to the Glasgow research by introducing new guidance that limited heading in children’s football and then recommendations that adults should practice no more than 10 headers per week – although this only applied to longer distance ‘high impact’ headers in the professional game.

Following years of overlooking calls by experts and campaigners to end heading in children’s football, the FA has now followed the United States in taking steps to remove it among the youngest age groups.

The process has begun with approval from the International Football Association Board [IFAB] to introduce a new trial to remove deliberate heading in Under-12 matches from the start of this coming 2022-23 season.

Leagues and competitions will now be invited to take part in that trial. Should the trial prove successful, the FA’s stated aim is to then “remove deliberate heading from all football matches at U12 level and below from the 2023-24 season”.

This would bring matches across these age groups in line with the FA’s current heading guidance for training, which already