Chelsea midfielder calls for more recovery time as seventh WSL star suffers ACL injury | OneFootball

Chelsea’s Keira Walsh has called on governing bodies to give players more recovery between games after yet another WSL star tore her ACL.

Arsenal’s exciting talent Katie Reid was the latest to be ruled out for the season after rupturing her ACL.

Concerns for player safety

Reid is the seventh star to suffer an ACL injury this season – a harrowing stat just eight weeks into the campaign.

The Arsenal defender joins club teammates Michelle Agyemang and Manuela Zinsberger in the treatment room.

Following the latest ACL injury in women’s football, Keira Walsh has called on action to be taken.

“Maybe sometimes we do play too many games in a congested fixture schedule. There’s not enough recovery time,” said Chelsea’s Walsh.

“You can do the research, but ultimately you need to listen to the ones going through it and how we can best find the solutions.”

Teams like Arsenal and Chelsea who advanced deep into the Champions League last season played over 50 games in the year.

With Euro 2025 also taking place in the summer, there wasn’t much rest for the best players in the world.

“Sometimes as players you do worry about it,” Walsh continued. “It’s a difficult one. You still want to play those games. You still want to play week in, week out and on the big occasions.

“But sometimes people higher up do need to listen to what we’re saying as players.”

What next for Keira Walsh?

Keira Walsh and Chelsea return to action in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

The Champions League remains the only major domestic title Chelsea women have been unable to secure, but Walsh could bring some experience to the table this season.

Before she joined Chelsea, Walsh won two Champions League titles with Barcelona. 

The Lioness played an integral part in the club’s back to back wins in the competition between 2023 and 2025.

When Walsh faced off with her former team in the Champions League semi-final last season she found herself on the wrong side of Barca, who went on to lose in the final to Arsenal.

The midfielder already has an impressive trophy cabinet from the past two years – winning Euro 2025 with England as well as the WSL, Liga F and the Champions League.

A European title with Chelsea this season would be the icing on the cake for Walsh this season following an impressive run for both club and country.