A 1979 study reported that former first-team ballplayers were over-represented as top-ranking executives in their companies and had greater income mobility than second-teamers and reserves.
In association football, there are four traditional types of specialties (positions): goalkeepers (goalies), defenders (full-backs), midfielders (half-backs), and forwards (attackers).
Special purpose positions include such performers as sweepers, stoppers, second forwards (under-attackers), wingers, insiders, etc.
Research shows that association football players who take less than 200 milliseconds after the referee blows their whistle to make a penalty kick are significantly less likely to score than those who take over a second.
Joint sprains predominated (30%), followed by fractures (16%), muscle strains (15%), ligament ruptures (12%), meniscal tears and contusions (8%), and other injuries.
Studies have long shown former American football NFL players have a longer life expectancy than the general public or males with a similar age and race distribution, but a higher rate of cardiovascular issues.
[27] Football players participating in international matches for Germany have reduced longevity compared to the general population.
The span longevities were influenced by factors like the type of sport, the playing position, the race, and the energy system.
[42] An observational study held from professional footballers -active (during their career) and recently retired (post-career, aged more than 45 years)- in 70 countries between 2007 and 2013, elaborated on data from the World Footballers' Union (FIFPro), recorded 214 deaths of which 25% was caused by accidents, 11% by suicides and 33% by a suspected cardiac pathology (on an overall 55% of deaths caused by some sort of disease).
[43] Clinical evaluation, ECG, and echocardiography are required for the athletes as pre-participation tools in order to prevent sudden cardiac deaths in people aged less than 35.
To evaluate the risk of myocardial fibrosis, may use and recommend the additional use of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with pre- and post-contrast and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) images.
[45] In 2013, a study on 3,439 retired athletes of the National Football Leagues with at least five credited playing seasons between 1959 and 1988 did not show a statistical correlation between suicide mortality and professional activity, particularly football-related compared with the general control sample.
[46] Until the 2000s a very limited number of formal studies has been published on mortality from all causes in soccer players, despite the high interest of the public to the matter.
An extended study held in Italy between 1975 and 2003 on a total of 5.389 players, aged 14–35 years, highlighted that, while the mortality for cancer and cardiovascular diseases among the football players cohort was significantly lower than the general Italian population, the "mortality rates for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and car accidents were significantly higher than expected, and for ALS the risk is 18 times than expected.