FMPA

Mr Andy Williams is a knee surgeon who has worked with many professional athletes, including Premier League football players and Premiership rugby players. He completed his medical training at King’s College Hospital in London before completing orthopaedic training at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, after which he undertook a fellowship in Australia where he gained some of his first experiences in sports-related surgery. His expertise now lies in sports-related knee injuries and knee ligament issues. He undertakes approximately 100 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions every year. 90% of his work is with professional athletes. He is also a prize-winning researcher of knee-related issues.

Martin Buchheit has over two decades of experience in professional sports (PSG, Olympique de Lyon, Lille OSC, Aspire Academy and Consultancies including City Football Group), Martin is committed to performance and medical excellence. He works full-time or freelance, collaborating with top European clubs, bridging the gap between sports science knowledge and practical application. Martin is an author of >250 scientific papers and 2 best-selling books, and he mentors practitioners and speak on high performance, leadership, and EGO management for various organizations.

Bram Swinnen is a strength and conditioning coach with more than 20 years’ experience in professional sport. He has trained eight Olympic Medallists and various World Champions. He has also worked with the football team FC Anzhi. During this time he trained many elite players. He has a master’s degree in kinesiology and a master’s in physical therapy. He has also authored a book, Strength Training for Soccer

PROFESSOR CHARLIE PEDLAR

With kind permission of the Football Medicine & Performance Association

Johnnie Lowery is an author and keen football fan, following England and Sutton United home and away. His first book, Six Added Minutes, was written whilst he was at University and published in November 2019. As well as being an author, Lowery has a keen interest in mental health, based on his own experiences as a teenager.

His second book, Match Fit, is inspired by a desire to ensure mental health does not remain a taboo subject in society, and more specifically, football.

Derek Wright is currently Head Physiotherapist at Al Ain FC in Saudi Arabia. Derek was previous Head Physiotherapist at Newcastle United, having spent a long and illustrious career at the club spanning 38 years. Derek also previously worked at Fulham FC. His first job was at Northumberland Miner’s Rehabilitation Centre and he discusses in this podcast his career and also some of the key components and principles of physiotherapy that have stuck with him as well as some of the changes over his time in football.

Dr Joanne Parsons and Dr Sheree Bekker

Dr Joanne Parsons is a Physiotherapist and Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba in Canada. Dr Sheree Bekker is an Associate Professor in Injury Prevention at the University of Bath in the UK. They have published a review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine on anterior cruciate ligament injuries that discusses gendered influences on injury rates in girls and women.

Professor Christa Jansevan Rensburg interviewed by Eleanor Trezise

Professor Christa Janse van Rensburg is a Consultant Rheumatologist, experienced Sports Physician and the Head of the Section Sports Medicine at the University of Pretoria where she oversees the teaching of sport and exercise medicine doctors and conducts research. Notably, she was the team doctor for the South Africa National Olympic Team to the Athens 2004 Olympics and was the medical venue officer for the Loftus Stadium in South Africa during the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009 and FIFA World Cup in 2010. She was recently appointed the Chair of the Medical Advisory Panel for World Netball. She has investigated the effects of travelling on athletes and in 2020 published a systematic review on this topic in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. She is also a project partner and supervisor of the Drake Football Study, a project which is tracking the mental and physical health of 170 footballers over a 10-year period.

Dr Andrew Shafik, Senior Editor at the FMPA is joined by Callum Walsh.

Callum is currently Head of Performance at Alanyaspor and has worked in multiple aspects of performance from Strength and Conditioning, GPS, Rehabilitation roles to head up Performance and Medical departments.

Callum has over 15 year’s experience that spans across experiences in Premier League & Championship as well as Leagues abroad including Brazilian Serie A , Turkish Super Lig as well as Experience at Aspire Academy and Senior and Age Group International Experience.

Dr Ronnie Banerjee is the current head doctor for Hull City, alongside his roles at GB Taekwondo, Leeds Rhinos and Jamaica rugby league.

In this podcast we discuss how a groundbreaking legal case of non-medical disclosure between teams led to research in to the challenges and pitfalls of medical notekeeping in football and his solution.