Research shows one in five former GAA intercounty players admit retiring from sport due to knee injury

One in five former male intercounty GAA players claim they were forced to retire due to a significant knee injury, while 7 out of 10 said they had suffered at least one severe knee injury during their playing career, according to new research.

The study by researchers in sports medicine also revealed that 40 per cent of former elite players reported needing knee surgery since retiring from playing sport.

In addition, more than half of all retired GAA players (51 per cent) had undergone knee surgery during their intercounty career with 19% having had three or more operations.

The findings of the study, which are published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science, has highlighted how knee injuries are a common reason behind reduced performance by GAA as well as retirement from playing the sport.

The research said it also showed how severe knee injuries were potentially associated with worse health-related outcomes, such as early-onset knee osteoarthritis, for former players after their intercounty career was over.

The study analysed the responses of 100 former GAA intercounty players who had an average age of 37.4 years.

Of 68 participants who completed the survey in full, 47 had played senior Gaelic football and 20 had played senior hurling with one dual intercounty former player.

On average, retired players had started playing senior intercounty matches when they were 19.7 years, played for eight seasons and had retired from GAA sports for 10 years at the time of the survey.

A severe knee injury was defined as any injury to the knee joint which occurred during training or a match and resulted in an absence of playing GAA for more than 28 days.

More than half of the respondents (54 per cent) said they did not feel that