Acute and Transient Match-Related Fatigue in University Female Footballers

This study aimed to examine the acute fatigue response experienced by female footballers during and after match-play. Twenty university footballers completed three trials of a countermovement jump on a force platform pre- and post-match-play (35 observations). External and internal loads were recorded during match-play via global positioning systems (GPS) and heart rate (HR), respectively. Match-play loads were split into thirds and analyzed via linear mixed model. Pre- and postjump metrics (n = 16) were analyzed using a paired samples t test. Significant decrements were observed between the first and final third for all external load metrics apart from sprint distance and accelerations (p > .05). Relative concentric peak force (p = .035) was significantly increased postmatch, while a reduction was observed for relative concentric mean power (p = .034). The remaining 14 metrics did not display any significant changes (p > .05). The stability of countermovement jump (CMJ) performance pre- to postmatch alongside the reductions within match support the notion of transient fatigue. Moreover, coaches can use this data (i.e., transient fatigue) to inform tactics in female football (i.e., substitutions) and conditioning regimes.