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

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Whenever I had to run out on that pitch, there was a roar that rattled through my ears. It was incredible.

had a fitness test the day before the match and although he was able to do everything, it was a high risk for him to play. The awards for the season were handed out by the chairman Ian Liversedge and the president Jody Betts. 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.these guys earn good wages and have close ties with the players – as do most physios in a club – therefore, changing them can be very disruptive and expensive.” This is how it works. On Tuesday, the players are brought in for a double training session. If there is no game on Wednesday, they are given the day off. That means that, following training, they are left to their own devices. At many clubs up and down the country, groups of four or five players take the opportunity for a bit of team bonding, and head to the pub for the afternoon. At Oldham, that group numbers as many as 17. During the Football Medical Association Conference dinner last May, we were informed that 12 people in the game had already lost their jobs ahead of the next season during the final few weeks of the current. 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.

Fred gives a good example of how he had to use his judgement during a game between England and Yugoslavia when Steve Hodge and Glenn Hoddle clashed heads, with manager Bobby Robson trusting his judgement. is important to let the manager have the facts as you see them, and not say what he would like to hear, and give your views as advice upon which he may act or not. manager has to organise and captain an efficient ‘team behind the team’ that not only performs specific tasks but also has a role to play in creating the atmosphere around the team. Reflecting on that day, Roy said; “No one will ever understand how hurt I was. It’s a feeling that I’ll never forget.” Roy’s departure from the club left him a void, and it took him a while to get over.

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Speaking exclusively to The Football Pink, he said: “My dad was a sports journalist – Stan Liversedge – he was assistant sports editor of The People in Manchester.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are still not walking away from the failed European Super League This is very much against the tradition, certainly in English football, of the ‘manager-physio-players’ model where good working relationships were traditionally built. So it’s well worth a read. There is no Keane-like anger, or Pietersen vitriol, but there are some funny stories and as Royle says: “He’s a top, top man and I love him to bits. Enjoy his story, at least the part he remembers.” If there are any issues as the result of someone not pulling their weight in training, or not grafting hard enough on the pitch, they get sorted out on a Tuesday afternoon. New arrivals are told that must bring shoes, trousers and a shirt to their first Tuesday at the club. It is an essential part of life. Often, Ian Liversedge and Ronnie Evans join the group. Andy Ritchie is usually the first to depart, and the sessions can last until the early hours. The other players joke that Ritchie, who has a reputation for being financially frugal, is last to the bar and first to bed. In his first outing [Jon] Hallworth, who joined the previous season, joked to himself that they play golf at Ipswich – a much more gentlemanly pursuit. Let’s get one thing straight,’ he said, his voice laced with menace, ‘I choose the f***in’ food at this club’.Lake faxed over a list of breakfast items for an overnight trip before playing Bournemouth, his first away game with the club. He was later cleared at an FA hearing of being verbally abusive to her in his native Portuguese language. He explained: “I was one of the early physios, you know. There had been physios. When I was at Everton, they had a qualified physio but he used to wear a white coat – it was like hospital. I was one of the originals. were qualified physios but not many of them worked in football. So, if I got injured, I went to see qualified physios and I thought, ‘I could do this, it’s quite interesting this’.”

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.” 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. For manager Joe Royle, he did eventually win the FA Cup with Everton and one of the few who did win it as a player and a manager. Manchester United went on to great success dominating the domestic honours just like Liverpool did in the ’80s. Now, as Gary Lewin illustrated, some clubs have more than 20 different full-time medical staff doing a range of different jobs. In 1990, the club reached the semi-final of the FA Cup and the final of the League Cup. A year later they were promoted to Division One with a last-minute goal on the final day of the season. Another term on from that and Oldham became one of the founding members of the Premier League.I left in 2008, the full-time staff consisted of two physiotherapists, one doctor, two masseurs, one fitness coach, one osteopath, one travel and equipment manager and two kit men.