Life's a Ball': Ian Liversedge: The Highs and Lows of a Football Physio

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Special interests: Non specialist airway management, complex patient management and clinical education We were all set to fly off the Madeira and there was no sign of the boss. I asked the assistant, Tommy Kavanagh, where he was and he whispered in my ear: ‘He’s trying to sign Kevin Keegan.’ With football it brings defining moments one player, in particular, you could say broke Oldham Athletic players, staff and fans’ hearts that afternoon, ending a potential romantic love story with the FA Cup Final that they were seconds away from, succumbing to his very late equaliser to force a replay. d just started my first job in football as a physio, so, what an introduction that was. Two years I spent there. We got promotion into Division One – but that was full-on. Liversedge would leave the Toon for Oldham Athletic in 1984 and remain at Boundary Park until the mid-90s. During this period, under the stewardship of the legendary Joe Royle, Latics enjoyed their heyday and several moments in the sun.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are still not walking away from the failed European Super Leagueare bound to be rifts along the way – one party standing their ground over a point of discipline, perhaps, or the other claiming they know how to handle the youngsters- but a sound partnership will help them to ride the storm. Liversedge says: “My dad, Stan, was a journalist at the Sunday People, he was deputy editor of the northern edition, and he wrote numerous books. But the events involving Carneiro at Chelsea that day were an unwelcome distraction from the pivotal role that medical personnel play in football, as a paper from Teeside University stated in 2012. He answered: “It is one of the most important parts of a football club. But I wouldn’t detach it from the other aspects of the game. It is just as important as the tactical, physical and psychological elements of football, but importantly, these all have to function correctly and together.” it’s going to work it has to be based on the fundamentals of mutual trust, respect and understanding.

Liversedge laughs when he says this and while Keegan might be a tad more of a folk hero than the guy with the magic sponge, that’s not to say that the physio doesn’t have a story to tell. Arthur was great, I thought the interview had gone well, and he told me that he would phone that night. This was on the Friday. Bang on 9pm, which is when he’s promise to give me the news, I got a call from him offering the job to me. Ian Liversedge – who wrote the book ‘Life’s A Ball: Highs and Lows of a Football Physio’ – describes in his own experiences on one chapter. Perhaps the final words should go to former Manchester City and England under-21 midfielder Paul Lake, who saw his promising playing career effectively ended at the age of 21 by a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, which would see him only play four further games.When Terry Venables was appointed England manager he agreed that long serving physios Fred Street and Norman Medhurst had done a very good job and were both utterly dedicated to England, but in this department, it was time for a change. “We needed a new dash of enthusiasm and fresh ideas.” Last May – during the Football Medical Association Conference dinner – we were informed that 12 people in the game had already lost their jobs. I can recall at breakfast the following morning asking Alan Smith, former England and Sheffield Wednesday sponge man, who those people were. He informed me his own son was one of three medical staff shown the door by the manager at Hillsborough. I was the sole first-team physio and a new manager came in, I did feel uncertain about my future, it was up to me to prove to him I could provide an efficient medical service. Liversedge described Mark Hughes’ equaliser the turning point in Oldham Athletic successful period. They failed to win any of the last seven games and were relegated from the Premier League on the last day of the season after a draw at Norwich City.

When then-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho became embroiled in an internal row with club doctor Eva Carneiro in the club’s first game of the 2015-16 season, played out in front of millions of television viewers, it had repercussions for the whole football industry.In the book, it was revealed that Gascoigne was smoking heavily at this point and liked “a few brandies” before a game). Inevitably though, these decisions always end up laying bare the flip side of the beautiful game, the one where people get hurt and heartbreak is only a result away. Terry McDermott plays a big part in this section. They two were bosom buddies. Or is that boozing buddies? discussion went along the lines of, ‘He is fit to start but not confident he will finish and he may do further damage to his knee.’

fact, I have been fortunate to work with a number of good managers who make you feel part of the team. Understanding the dynamics of a football club environment are an essential aspect, discipline and organisation are also important factors in successful teams.contracts don’t necessarily follow the managers and are organised separately. In fact, they are relatively protected. Liversedge started his physiotherapy career at Newcastle United. He subsequently worked at Oldham Athletic, Manchester United, Stoke City, Altrincham and Burnley where he spent five years with Stan Ternent. [3] Whilst at Burnley he was given the sobriquet 'Sos'. [4] He has also worked at the Beaumont Hospital in Bolton. [1]