Football First Aid Kit Contents List – What should yours contain to keep your football players safe?

Football is a high-energy contact sport, whether in professional, amateur or junior settings, or a simple kick-around between friends. This means that injuries on the pitch are common and unfortunately frequent. It’s important to have the right football first aid kits on hand to ensure everyone playing is safe in the event of a football injury. 

Football injuries can range from minimal to severe. Depending on how serious the injury is and how quickly and effectively it’s treated by a first aider with a well-stocked football first aid kit bag, the injury could lead to extended time off the pitch.

It’s time to check over your football first aid kit contents list and make sure you’re prepared.

Common Risks When Playing Football

When considering what items should be in your football first aid kit contents, you will need to be aware of the most common risks when playing football and the kinds of injuries these can lead to. Having the right football first aid kit essentials is vital to ensuring any football injury is treated quickly and effectively.

Common football injuries

• Concussion (blow to the head)
• Ankle or knee sprain
• Calf, groin or hamstring strains
• Foot or wrist fracture
• Ligament damage
• Knee injuries
• Minor or major flesh wounds

How to be prepared against football injuries

There are many ways to approach preventing football injuries, we explore some of these in our blog. Injuries are far more likely to occur during a football game if the players haven’t completed a proper warm-up.

Coaches should ensure all players warm up and stretch appropriately before a match begins to ensure their bodies are ready to play safely. It’s important to complete a thorough cool-down after a match too.

Below are a few exercises to work through before a game:

• Stretching—focusing on the lower body, feet and legs. Gentle neck stretches are important too.
• Cardio—get the heart pumping and blood flowing through the limbs with quick bursts of intense physical activity, try a few laps around the pitch. The warmer the body is, the less prone to strain or injury the player will be.
• Practice passing, tackling, and shooting—prepare the body for the types of movement that will be frequent and fast-paced throughout the game. Sprinting exercises are also helpful.

Treating Concussion

A common football injury is a concussion, caused by contact with a player’s head. Most of the items provided in football first aid kits including a junior football first aid kit can be used to treat a concussion. While first aiders will be trained in assessing and treating the basics of head injury and possible concussion, it’s worth taking a look at the FA concussion guidance to treat a player safely.

What should be in a Football First Aid Kit?

We cover how to treat many common football injuries in our blog but despite all our best intentions, football injuries are still common. It’s important to know what should be in a football first aid kit to make sure your players have access to necessary first aid treatment as soon as possible.

To determine your team’s football first aid kit requirements, you will need to consider the players’ abilities, health, and risk of injury during a match. Professional teams will have different requirements of football first aid kits compared to senior or junior teams. The likelihood and frequency of different injuries will differ depending on the size, age, and skill level of your players, so consider what your team will need with this in mind.

If you’re not sure what requirements your football team has, and what the possible risks of injury are, you could consider partnering with Sterosport to receive expert guidance and support to determine what your team needs. By choosing a trusted supplier like Steropsport, you will avoid purchasing poor quality cheap football first aid kits that are unfit for purpose and won’t serve your players well in the event of an injury. Our sports first aid kits are generously stocked with premium quality items so are a great cost-effective way to provide for your team.

Either way, having a football first aid kit pitch-side is vital. Below is an essential guide to what your football first aid kit contents should include:

The above guide will cover most first aid requirements for football injuries. This Junior Sports Team First Aid Kit contains what should be in a junior football first aid kit and has been designed to address the most common injuries that young teams face.

While kits like this youth football first aid kit are equipped to deal with treating a young player in most emergencies, the frequency and intensity of the football injuries will depend on more than the players’ age. There are many additional items that your football first aid kit might need so it could be worth investing in larger, more substantial first aid kits for football clubs who are more experienced. Make sure to research football first aid kits with more extensive contents to suit either senior or professional teams.

Additional Football First Aid Kit Equipment To Consider

Senior teams who play more advanced football and more frequent games will require additional football first aid kit contents, both in quantity and variety of equipment. A County FA approved football first aid kit will include items to offer more comprehensive first aid care than a basic sports first aid kit. See below for some additional first aid kit items that could be helpful to treat a range of football injuries.

First Aid Guide

A clear visual guide in the form of a leaflet may be essential as part of your football first aid kit contents. We offer guidance on how to provide football first aid on our blog, and where to access certified football first aid training approved by National Governing Bodies.

Having a First Aid Leaflet in your football first aid kit will provide information on how to treat the most common football injuries safely to untrained assistance, as well as provide a helpful reminder to experienced First Aiders.

Wound dressings and Bandages in a range of sizes

It may be worth adding a range of sizes of wound dressings and bandages to your football first aid kit. They are available in small, medium or large sizes, as well as wound dressings designed especially for finger injuries.

Wound Closures

These are sterile dressing sutures used to close and treat open wounds without stitches. Nylon strengthening fibres run the length of each suture, preventing the wound from reopening and minimising the risk of infection.

Low-adherent dressings in smaller sizes

The standard 10x10cm dressing may be too large to safely treat certain football Injuries. It is worth considering adding a range of sizes of low-adherent dressings to your football first aid kit contents, allowing for more choice when faced with treating an injury. This Sports First Aid Kit contains more choices of dressing sizes that you may need.

Zinc Oxide tape 

Non-stretch zinc oxide strapping provides strong, rigid support for injured joints or limbs under extreme stress. Good for quick use in an emergency to minimise strain on an injury as it tears by hand so no scissors are necessary. Commonly used when taping wrists after injury, or to prevent it in the first place.

Elastic Adhesive Bandages in a range of sizes

For easy strapping of injuries or securing of dressings. No need for scissors as they tear by hand.

Gauze swab 

Can be used underneath wound dressings to pad and protect injury while preventing the wound from drying out.

Clinical waste bag

For safe separation of clinical waste from certain first aid procedures and injury types, ensuring it can be disposed of correctly and safely in accordance with government guidelines

Antiseptic cream

For preventing infection when treating an injury where the skin has been opened.

Resusciade

A layer of protection for first aiders and patients when performing CPR, preventing cross-contamination when providing mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Petroleum jelly

Seals skin with a water-protective barrier to aid healing and retain moisture.

Glucose Chews

Provides a quick energy boost and regulates blood sugar levels in patients suffering from shock, over-exposure or exhaustion

Freeze spray

Provides pain relief by cooling down the area of an injury including cramp, sprain, swelling, or bruises.

Being prepared for every eventuality when playing any level of football is essential. All football teams should be well equipped with football first aid kits developed based on guidance from the FA and other National Governing bodies. More senior teams will require a football first aid kit with more extensive content.

It is up to you to determine with fitness of your players, and the risk of injury they face during training and play. Taking the time to make sure you have the right first aid kit for football team safety can make all the difference when it comes to reducing the damage and keeping your players on the pitch for longer. It’s also important to make time to regularly assess your football first aid kit’s contents and make sure you have all the items you need, remembering that some supplies may have an expiry date and could be due for replacement. Sterosport supplies many sports first aid products individually so you can order football first aid kit refill items from us whenever you need to.

Football First Aid Training

As well as having all the items you need to have in your football first aid kits, UK football governing bodies such as the FA recommend that you have fully qualified first aiders available whenever needed. Whether you need to train up someone new or refresh the qualifications of your longtime first aiders, we cover everything you need to know about football first aid training and available courses on our blog.

Changes to performing football first aid during COVID-19 Pandemic

Performing first aid when faced with a football injury is important, but over the period of the Coronavirus pandemic, extra precautions are necessary to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

The risk of viral transmission of COVID-19 needs to be minimised at all stages of treatment, especially when social distancing cannot be enforced.

The following steps can be applied to keep everyone safe when first aid is required:

• Cleaning hands thoroughly with soap and water or alcohol sanitiser before and after treating a player.
• Use of PPE wherever possible to protect the player and the first aider.
• Disposable gloves and plastic aprons are used at all times by the first aider.
• Continuous use of a fluid-resistant surgical mask over the mouth and nose, and eye protection such as goggles or a visor—both replaced after a maximum of four hours. Ideally, both players and first aiders would be wearing a mask and a visor.

Where these measures are not possible, it’s important that the first aider carefully consider the risks of performing assistance—their own safety is paramount. Depending on the circumstances of the injury, the reduction of risk for all may include providing no first aid assistance at all, instead of waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

The FA provides more detailed guidelines on performing Football First Aid safely during the Coronavirus pandemic here.

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