Evaluating rehabilitation and return to play procedures in male professional football: A narrative review

Injuries in male professional football present a multi-faceted and complex challenge for practitioners with significant consequences across performance, psychosocial and financial domains. Medical and performance staff encounter considerable pressure to maximise player availability and advance rehabilitation timeframes, whilst minimising the risk of subsequent injury. Decisions involving increased risk promise, potentially, higher rewards and may significantly influence a player's career and team performance. Therefore, it is crucial that rehabilitation and return to play (RTP) procedures are evidence-informed and strategically designed to mitigate subsequent injury risk. Due to the complex nature of injuries, and the multidisciplinary approach required during the rehabilitation process, a wide range of knowledge and skills are essential to inform a shared decision-making process and successful RTP. To support the understanding of the competencies required, this narrative review gives an overview of existing aetiological models, decision-making frameworks and RTP approaches within the current literature. The current role of criteria-based progressions in rehabilitation frameworks are evaluated and potential future research, that could improve rehabilitation procedures and inform better RTP decision-making and post-RTP care in the professional football environment, is highlighted.