Adam's Path To The Premiership
Wed 30th October 2013 | Irlam | By Ian Templeman
Irlam will have to get used to preparing for games without their midfielder Adam Newall - as he now has a place on the Everton FC bench for their first team games.
Adam is a physiotherapist, and recently landed a dream job as part of the medical team at Goodison Park. The story of his route from University to a high profile job in the Premiership is a fascinating one, and Adam has taken time out to tell his story.
"I graduated from Salford University in July 2012, after completing my 3 year degree in Physiotherapy. This involved a number of NHS placements which are mandatory training for a physio, which are normalIy undertaken in British Hospitals.
In September 2011, I noticed that Burnley FC had taken a Salford student for a 6 week placement. With this being my dream job, I immediately spoke with one of my lecturers and asked whether there would be any more opportunities with the club. This was the case and I did my final placement with them in November and December 2011. This involved working with the physiotherapy team, who I remained in touch with until qualifying.
After qualifying in July 2012, most of my peers sought jobs within the NHS. However, I made it my mission to gain a job in Football, having firstly gained an additional qualification in Sports Massage. I appreciated the fact that this was going to be difficult, and therefore decided to offer my voluntary services to Burnley FC for the 2012/2013 season.
I started at Turf Moor in August 2012, working with the Development Squad physiotherapist, Pablo Sanchez, where I learned the entire role and every day demands of a physio in a professional football club.
By December 2012, the Head of Youth and Academy was going off on Paternity Leave, which gave me the opportunity to take over on a paid basis. On return, it was the turn of the First Team Assistant Physio to go off on Paternity, which allowed me to cover yet another role. This involved working with the medical team in Championship match days, both home and away.
After this period, the first team physio, Ally Beattie, asked whether I would like to work with them for the reminder of the season, which was a massive honour. This also involved leading rehabilitation programmes, such as that of their leading scorer, who had just undergone an operation to remove his appendix.
The trust that Ally had put in me was overwhelming and I went from strength to strength working with the team until the end of season.
The end of season came around so fast and although I was not paid a salary, I learned so much and would recommend the experience to anybody who wants to develop their knowledge and experience. Burnley FC wanted to take me on, but due to financial difficulties, which is so common for ex-Premier League teams, this was not possible due to the parachute payments from the Premiership stopping.
I remained determined that I would gain a full time job in professional football and made the decision to write to every Head Physio of every Premiership and Championship Football Club. This included a covering letter of all my experiences in the past year, including an up-to-date CV with references from Burnley FC.
I sent all 44 letters off in May 2013 and the replies started coming back slowly. I received replies from the Head Physio of Everton, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and many more, all thanking me for the letter but unfortunately there were no job vacancies.
However, at the end of August, I got a phone call from Danny Donachie, the Head Physio at Everton FC, asking me whether I was still looking for a job and whether I could come down to Finch Farm (the £13M training ground) to meet him.
At first I thought it was a wind up from one of my best mates, Irlam reserve team coach Michael Dodd, as I was thinking why would they want me??? But I went for an interview a couple of days later where I met Danny, which went very well.
I received another phone call from Danny later that week when I was finishing my shift at Tesco, where I had worked on a part-time basis throughout higher education. I was expecting Danny to say that unfortunately I did not get the job and I had already rehearsed my disappointed but thankful reply.
However, to my absolute amazement, I was asked "When can you start?" I had never felt so ecstatic and said I would start the following Monday. After putting the phone down, I still remember the conversation with my parents who were away in Tenerife. We were all in tears!
All the hard work has paid off and I have been working at Everton for two months now, where I am one of the four first team physiotherapists in a medical team, consisting of two full time soft tissue therapists, two doctors, one Head of Performance and two Fitness Coaches.
I am responsible for the management of both first team and reserve team players and cover first team games with the medical team. The first two months have been fantastic and it is great to work with a such an elite medical team, where everyone is so approachable and keen to share their knowledge and experience with me. The entire coaching team are exactly the same, including the Gaffer, Roberto Martinez.
I have already been on 3 courses, including the FA's Advanced Resuscitation and Emergency Aid at Cardiff City FC. The club are determined to have the best medical team possible, who are competent in so many different areas.
It is an absolute pleasure to go to work every day and I would recommend voluntary work to anybody who has completed and undergraduate degree and wishes to chase their dream job. Without the year at Burnley FC, I would not have been given such a fantastic opportunity at such a massive club".
Caption: Adam is pictured on the second row on the left.
Adam's Path To The Premiership
Wed 30th October 2013 | Irlam
By Ian Templeman
Irlam will have to get used to preparing for games without their midfielder Adam Newall - as he now has a place on the Everton FC bench for their first team games.
Adam is a physiotherapist, and recently landed a dream job as part of the medical team at Goodison Park. The story of his route from University to a high profile job in the Premiership is a fascinating one, and Adam has taken time out to tell his story.
"I graduated from Salford University in July 2012, after completing my 3 year degree in Physiotherapy. This involved a number of NHS placements which are mandatory training for a physio, which are normalIy undertaken in British Hospitals.
In September 2011, I noticed that Burnley FC had taken a Salford student for a 6 week placement. With this being my dream job, I immediately spoke with one of my lecturers and asked whether there would be any more opportunities with the club. This was the case and I did my final placement with them in November and December 2011. This involved working with the physiotherapy team, who I remained in touch with until qualifying.
After qualifying in July 2012, most of my peers sought jobs within the NHS. However, I made it my mission to gain a job in Football, having firstly gained an additional qualification in Sports Massage. I appreciated the fact that this was going to be difficult, and therefore decided to offer my voluntary services to Burnley FC for the 2012/2013 season.
I started at Turf Moor in August 2012, working with the Development Squad physiotherapist, Pablo Sanchez, where I learned the entire role and every day demands of a physio in a professional football club.
By December 2012, the Head of Youth and Academy was going off on Paternity Leave, which gave me the opportunity to take over on a paid basis. On return, it was the turn of the First Team Assistant Physio to go off on Paternity, which allowed me to cover yet another role. This involved working with the medical team in Championship match days, both home and away.
After this period, the first team physio, Ally Beattie, asked whether I would like to work with them for the reminder of the season, which was a massive honour. This also involved leading rehabilitation programmes, such as that of their leading scorer, who had just undergone an operation to remove his appendix.
The trust that Ally had put in me was overwhelming and I went from strength to strength working with the team until the end of season.
The end of season came around so fast and although I was not paid a salary, I learned so much and would recommend the experience to anybody who wants to develop their knowledge and experience. Burnley FC wanted to take me on, but due to financial difficulties, which is so common for ex-Premier League teams, this was not possible due to the parachute payments from the Premiership stopping.
I remained determined that I would gain a full time job in professional football and made the decision to write to every Head Physio of every Premiership and Championship Football Club. This included a covering letter of all my experiences in the past year, including an up-to-date CV with references from Burnley FC.
I sent all 44 letters off in May 2013 and the replies started coming back slowly. I received replies from the Head Physio of Everton, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and many more, all thanking me for the letter but unfortunately there were no job vacancies.
However, at the end of August, I got a phone call from Danny Donachie, the Head Physio at Everton FC, asking me whether I was still looking for a job and whether I could come down to Finch Farm (the £13M training ground) to meet him.
At first I thought it was a wind up from one of my best mates, Irlam reserve team coach Michael Dodd, as I was thinking why would they want me??? But I went for an interview a couple of days later where I met Danny, which went very well.
I received another phone call from Danny later that week when I was finishing my shift at Tesco, where I had worked on a part-time basis throughout higher education. I was expecting Danny to say that unfortunately I did not get the job and I had already rehearsed my disappointed but thankful reply.
However, to my absolute amazement, I was asked "When can you start?" I had never felt so ecstatic and said I would start the following Monday. After putting the phone down, I still remember the conversation with my parents who were away in Tenerife. We were all in tears!
All the hard work has paid off and I have been working at Everton for two months now, where I am one of the four first team physiotherapists in a medical team, consisting of two full time soft tissue therapists, two doctors, one Head of Performance and two Fitness Coaches.
I am responsible for the management of both first team and reserve team players and cover first team games with the medical team. The first two months have been fantastic and it is great to work with a such an elite medical team, where everyone is so approachable and keen to share their knowledge and experience with me. The entire coaching team are exactly the same, including the Gaffer, Roberto Martinez.
I have already been on 3 courses, including the FA's Advanced Resuscitation and Emergency Aid at Cardiff City FC. The club are determined to have the best medical team possible, who are competent in so many different areas.
It is an absolute pleasure to go to work every day and I would recommend voluntary work to anybody who has completed and undergraduate degree and wishes to chase their dream job. Without the year at Burnley FC, I would not have been given such a fantastic opportunity at such a massive club".
Caption: Adam is pictured on the second row on the left.
