Functional Movement Screen (FMS (TM)) score does not predict injury in English Premier League youth academy football players

Purpose: despite being commonly used, the interaction between Functional Movement Screen (FMS (TM)) score and injury in any elite football population has not been studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between FMS (TM) score and non-contact injury among elite youth players from a Premier League football academy. Materials and methods: eighty-four players were screened during the pre-season period and non-contact injuries recorded prospectively for the entirety of the 2013/14 football season. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to explore the relationships between the individual sub-tests of the FMS (TM) and injury. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the predictive value of the FMS (TM) composite score. Results: logistic regression revealed no relationships between score achieved on the individual sub-tests and injury. ROC curves indicated poor predictive ability of the composite score. Players scoring below the identified cut-off values (<= 14 or <= 15 depending on injury type considered) were 0.66 (95%CI: 0.40-1.10), 0.70 (95%CI: 0.32-1.57) and 1.52 (95%CI: 0.50-4.61) times as likely to suffer 'any', 'overuse' and 'severe' injuries respectively than those who scored above the identified cut-off values. Conclusions: there was no relationship between FMS (TM) score and injury. It was unable to predict any non-contact injury among English Premier League youth academy players. Practical implications: The present findings suggest that the FMS (TM) should not be used for risk stratification among young elite soccer players since the composite score was unrelated to injury likelihood. However, the FMS (TM) may be useful in other ways. For example, it may provide useful information to applied practitioners when designing strength-training programs for groups of players they are unfamiliar with, as is often the case at the start of a new season.