Grahame Morris seeks enforceable safeguards on heading in football training

Labour MP Grahame Morris has submitted a parliamentary motion calling for legal restrictions on repetitive heading in football training, BBC Sport reported on November 11. The Easington MP is seeking government action on player brain health, including enforceable safeguards, improved education and a national plan to protect those taking part in the game.

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The Early Day Motion, submitted on Tuesday, backs a petition lodged in September by the charity Head Safe Football. It calls for a task force spanning government departments, with medical specialists, player representatives, campaigners and football authorities involved in developing protections. It also seeks recognition of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, as a public health concern and greater coverage of heading risks in schools and physical education.

The proposal is not a new law or an adopted government policy. Early Day Motions allow MPs to set out a position and gather support, but do not guarantee a parliamentary debate regardless of how many members sign them. Morris told the BBC that his aim was to draw attention to evidence about repeated head impacts and encourage stronger government involvement in prevention and player protection.

Existing measures vary across football. According to BBC Sport, the Football Association has phased out intentional heading in grassroots matches for children aged 11 and younger. Its training guidance recommends a maximum of 10 headers a week for amateurs, while professional clubs in England have been advised to restrict high-force training headers to 10 weekly. Scotland prohibits heading in professional training the day before and the day after matches.

Head Safe Football founder Dr Judith Gates told the BBC that some coaches and parents were unaware of the guidance or did not understand its purpose. Gates, whose husband, former Middlesbrough player Bill Gates, died with CTE, argued for clearer restrictions while acknowledging that enforcing a legal limit would be difficult. Her concerns centre on whether existing advice is understood and followed.

The FA said it continued to fund research and had introduced guidance at professional and grassroots levels. It also stressed that the relationship between heading and long-term brain health remained under scientific and medical investigation. Morris's motion seeks additional government-led safeguards alongside those existing football measures; it does not itself establish a legally binding limit on training headers.