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Blackburn Rovers, a Barclays Premiership club, thought that when it came to insurance coverage for their players they were well insured, since they dished out £13,000 per year for insurance premiums, but a court ruling has showed them that they made a costly mistake - a £4 million one.

The case should prove as a wake up call for all football clubs to look more carefully at their coverage and to evaluate if it is better to pay for insurance or just carry the risk of injury them selves.

The case involved Martin Dhalin, a striker for the team, who sustained an injury during a training session in 1997. The injury to his back decided that he would never play football again. At the time, the Blackburn Rovers were sure that their insurance providers would pay out on the injury because it occurred while Dahlin was on the field. To their shock the insurers said that the injury was not covered under the policy because Dahlin had a pre-existing degenerative disc condition.

In court, the team argued that the degenerative disc condition was as a result of the wear and tear on Dahlin's body from playing football and had nothing to do with the prolapsed disc that occurred during the incident on the training pitch. The insurance companies said that the policy did not cover pre-existing conditions and they argued that the prolapsed disc was caused by the pre-existing condition not the fall on the field.

The High Court ruled that the medical evidence was "overwhelmingly one way" and that though the fall looked "awkward" it did appear to be the type of fall that regularly occurred on a football pitch and would likely not have created such a severe injury. In the end, the court ruled that the policy stipulated that it did not cover injuries resulting from degenerative conditions and the evidence pointed to the fact that this injury was a direct result of the degenerative disc condition, therefore, the team had no claim against the insurance companies.

The ruling sets up a difficult situation for teams. As players age their bodies start to wear out, now it seems that if injury should occur the insurance companies might no longer cover the injury citing the pre-existing wear and tear condition. Premiership clubs such as Chelsea can dish out tens of thousands even millions in insurance premiums, but now it appears they may still not be covered. Teams may start to choose not to have coverage and just carry the burden themselves if an injury should occur instead of risking paying out to the insurance companies, but then finding out in the end that the injury will not be covered by the policy. It may be the most cost effective route in the long run for football teams.