When did you leave football and what did you do in the immediate term?

My last role in football finished in January 2017. I left Hull City in 2011 and then worked for 18 months with the national team of Bahrain followed by two seasons in the Indian Super League working with David James and Peter Taylor again.

How did you find the transition?

The positions in India were 4-5 month contracts which meant that leaving the game was a slower transition than some may have experienced. I guess there wasn’t the shock value that so many would experience. Not having worked in football now close to two years has been difficult at times but has perhaps again has been easier for me as there is sort of a strategy behind it all!

What are your long-term plans?

Sometime ago I made a decision that I would like to stay in football but perhaps away from just a medical role. For the last two years I have been very busy working as an MSK specialist for mainly military contracts in the U.K. and Canada. Concurrent with this role I have been working to complete an MSc in Sporting Directorship and finally I have set up a small property portfolio.

My aim in the next few months is to try and return to a role in football using my new MSc experience in either a performance managers role or as an assistant to a Sporting Director when/ if such a role is developed? Hopefully the 15 years I spent working in all four divisions of English football, as well as in youth and senior international football in the UK and abroad will help me achieve this goal?

What advice would you have for colleagues who find themselves out of the game?

My advice to anybody coming out of game depends really on what they want? If they want to return to football it’s important to keep networking, knocking on doors, and developing, particularly looking beyond the football world as well as within. Some of the non-medical courses around now are excellent in my opinion and can help in your personal development in areas which I certainly wouldn’t have considered a few years ago. For those not too concerned about a return to football I would be very positive as there are lots of great opportunities in other areas to consider.

SOURCE: Issue 27 – Football Medicine & Performance