England forward Beth Mead is poised to collaborate with Fifa to exchange insights on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, joining forces with Arsenal teammate Vivianne Miedema.
Mead and Miedema sustained ACL injuries towards the end of 2022, causing them to sit out last year’s Women’s World Cup.
Before her injury, Mead earned the title of Ballon d’Or runner-up after emerging as the top scorer for England at Euro 2022.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes that’s great,” she said.
The Arsenal pair shared their experiences as part of a documentary detailing the challenges of recovering from an ACL injury.
This year, Chelsea strikers Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel suffered ACL injuries, while Arsenal defender Leah Williamson was another prominent figure forced to miss the World Cup due to the same injury.
“There were a few ACL injuries in the World Cup and there’s been quite a few since this season,” added Mead, who is currently on international duty with England for upcoming friendlies against Austria and Italy.
“We brought our documentary out to bring it to light a little bit better. Off the back of that, we’ve linked up with a few more [people].
“Hopefully we can get more data put out there and more specific information rather than just taking a survey that people do online in 10 or 15 minutes. We can be a bit more specific and nail down on it.”
Mead, 28, joked she “feels like a physio” because she learned so much about the injury last year but said the “million dollar question” is just ‘what is causing them?’
“Someone has got to be very rich to figure out how to stop these injuries,” she added.
“There’s no definitive answer on how to stop it and I think that’s the frustrating part. We do feel the responsibility. There’s a lot of us that have power in a good way to try to help and push on with the research.
“It’s funny how much knowledge you actually get throughout [ACL injury recovery]. I saw [Chelsea manager] Emma Hayes’ interview and I thought it was interesting what she said about the 10 days between swapping from club and country.
“Mine was actually in that period. I’d just come back from England and transferred to club that weekend. I do believe the stress, mental components and the scheduling are big, big factors that affect this injury.”
‘I would still be so critical of myself’
In November 2023, Mead made her comeback to the England squad after a one-year absence, showcasing her form with Arsenal at the beginning of the season.
“You always try as be as close to your best,” she said. “I had a few performances where I wasn’t happy with my standards for Arsenal, but I feel like I’m getting into a good swing.
“I always compare [myself] to my Euro 2022 level, knowing what I can do as a player. It’s a slow process, especially after such a long injury.
“I feel like some people have the expectation of you to be as good as you were when you left it. I have that expectation of myself even though it’s sometimes not always the way it goes.
“Even when I first started training, stuff that I knew I was always good at, was a little bit different. I’d still be so critical of myself. It’s a tough injury. You look at everyone and they come back differently.”
Mead’s ACL injury coincided with the death of her mother in January 2023, just a few months after winning the Euros.
“I’ve had the highest of highs in my career and the lowest of lows,” she added. “But I do believe things happen for a reason – whatever those crazy reasons are.
“Ultimately, all of that is in the past now. I believe in my ability as an individual and what I can bring to different teams, that’s what motivates me day in and day out. It’s not been an easy road but it’s moulded me to be the person I am.
“I would say I’ve been quite a soft-hearted person in my life but I’ve very much had to learn and toughen up a little bit in some aspects, which I don’t think is a bad thing.”
‘Something needs to be done for player welfare’
England team-mate Georgia Stanway and manager Sarina Wiegman also spoke about the intense playing schedule for international players this week, which Mead believes played a role in her ACL injury.
“There’s a lot of discussions going around with players on what your club wants, what your country wants, what the schedule looks like and what it’s asking for. It’s tough,” said Mead.
“Although we’re devastated not to be going to a tournament this summer, we feel like it’s a good chance for us to reset as individuals and as a team, and get that necessary rest that a lot of us need.
“I don’t want to keep going back to ACL injuries but a lot of them have been coming about since the schedules got a lot more hectic and I do believe that is a big factor.
“Something needs to be done for the welfare of the players, whether that’s us as players that have to fight for that or not.
“Fifa and Uefa have got a lot of different scheduling issues between them and we get caught in the middle which is probably not fair. We’ve just got to be a little bit more realistic with how players and teams are meant to do it on such a consistent basis.
“We’ll keep asking the questions. At Arsenal, we’ve got a lot of [international] captains in our squad and they liaise between each other. It’s not just England.”