When Lionesses captain Leah Williamson ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament last month, she became the latest high-profile female footballer to join the long list of players who have sustained an ACL injury.
Five of the 20 nominees for the 2022 Ballon d’Or Feminin — Alexia Putellas, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Catarina Macario and Marie-Antoinette Katoto — sustained an ACL injury in 2022. In the case of Putellas, in a particularly cruel twist of fate, the two-time Ballon d’Or winner missed the Women’s European Championship after rupturing her ACL on the eve of the tournament.
Three of those players — Williamson, Mead and Miedema — all play for Arsenal. To add to the club’s problems, Laura Wienroither was taken off on a stretcher with what appeared to be a knee injury during their Champions League semi-final second leg against Wolfsburg on Monday.
The Athletic Women’s Football Podcast spoke to Fortius Clinic knee surgeon and ACL specialist Andy Williams. He completed Manchester City winger Chloe Kelly’s ACL surgery in 2021 and Manchester United defender Aoife Mannion’s ACL surgery in 2022.
Both players undertook long rehabilitation programmes before returning to the pitch. Kelly’s comeback was made even sweeter by scoring the European…
