Meet Cheltenham's new Senior Sports Therapist
Cheltenham Town have recruited a Senior Sports Therapist and I went to find out a bit more about him. Gav Crowe, who was at Cheltenham before moving on to Kidderminster, where he got to know current players Kyle Storer and Danny Wright, had a brief spell at Bristol Rovers before Gary Johnson brought him back to The World of Smile Stadium. Below, you will find out who he is and what he does.
Hi Gav, thanks for sitting down with me, please tell me a bit about yourself.
"I’m a graduate sports therapist, I graduated about 15 years ago. I recently completed my masters in football rehab so I have a fair bit of experience in football with Luton, Cheltenham originally, then went off to Kidderminster, briefly at Bristol Rovers and now I’m back here. I had lots of conversation with Russ and Kyle and Danny Wright about coming back. I spoke to them with a view to coming back and it worked out."
Who have you spent the most time with so far?
"I’ve spent a lot of time with Lee Vaughan and Jordan Wynter, both are working extremely hard to get back in action. I’ve also spent time with James Rowe, but luckily he’s back available for selection now and has made good progress."
Tell us a bit more about your role.
"As it stands at the moment, I’m very much just looking after the rehab players. I’m trying to liaise with Gary and the rest of the staff so we can improve the fitness of the players if needed, or to come up with prevention strategies, because I want people out my treatment room. We’re finishing games strongly, I think there’s always room to improve fitness though.”
What is your footballing background like?
“I’ve been around football for a long time, certainly at this level. I know players and I’ve worked under some really good managers and I’ve picked up some handy information along the way. However, what I will say, is I’m only here as a physiotherapist!”
What’s it been like working with your new staff team?
“It’s been good, what I like about managers who I’ve worked with before, and Gary is no exception, is when they leave me to do my own thing and try not to interfere too much, coming into a new established team, you’d maybe expect it to be a bit harder to integrate but it’s been very easy to get to know everyone, I already knew Russ and I remember Tim (Bell) from my time here before too. I’ve never worked with Gary, but he’s been good as gold and always listens if I tell him a player might need a bit longer out of training.”
Injury Update: There are no fresh injury concerns ahead of Cheltenham’s double header Bank Holiday weekend against Torquay and Wrexham. James Rowe is available for selection, but Jordan Wynter and Lee Vaughan are still a couple of weeks away from full training.