That\’s football isn\’t it?
So this month was different. It’s the sort of month that makes me love my job. I feel so lucky to have a career that enables me to be part of professional team sports. When I was asked to be the chiropractor for the Tampa Bay Rowdies Soccer team from Florida in the United States on their preseason tour of the England, I jumped at the chance. I have to thank Bristol Rovers for this opportunity really. For it is the Bristol Rovers legend and former Player, Captain, Manager and friend, Stuart Campbell, who asked me. He is now the head coach of the Rowdies and chose his home to be the preseason country of choice. In America the football season starts in the spring. Which makes for some hot and humid games down in the Sunshine State.
The tour started in Nottingham. The team stayed in the Jurys hotel in the centre of town and started training at Nottingham Forest on the Monday. By Wednesday they had the first game against Nottingham Forest and it was a draw 2-2. I hooked up with the team after an exciting days work at Cleve Chiropractic and a long drive on Thursday evening, where I was roomed with a Bristol City player trying out for the Rowdies. He was a good guy who was keen for the Florida sun. The next day we played Nottingham County and I got my first chance to see Stuart’s Rowdies. I was impressed with how they handled English football and saw some skills that helped them win 3-2. We celebrated with a gentle night out in Nottingham…I don’t remember much but I can say that I managed to seal many new Anglo-American friendships over pints of Doom Bar and the odd Sambuca.
Through bleary eyes I realised that I had indeed woken up in my hotel room in Jurys the next day and although I may have missed breakfast, I did make it to watch Stoke vs Southampton with the rest of the team on Saturday. This gave us a little taste of what was to come as our last game of the tour was against Stoke FC. It was supposed to be against Stuart’s first club Leicester City, but was unfortunately changed due to Sky TV’s schedule. After the game we travelled onto our next hotel and world class destination, St Georges Park. St Georges is the home of the FA and England. Wow and wow again. St Georges Park is unbelievable. I am lucky enough to have worked at Twickenham, the Millennium Stadium and Wembley but this was something else. The Rowdies have an incredibly generous owner and he hired all of England Football’s facilities for his team. I don’t know if I will ever make it back there, so I treasured every moment. I’m not sure if I’m the only chiropractor to work in England’s dressing room? Maybe. How do I describe it? It’s massive. I think it’s bigger than my house, indeed it even came fitted with a 65 inch TV. Each player has his or her own section, there are two physio beds with room for more around a central island that is probably bigger than my kitchen. They have shower facilities that you would expect in a 5-star spa with the added benefit of 2 of the latest technology ice baths. Interestingly the England boys seem to need a mirrored hairdressing section that almost doubles the length of the dressing room full of plugs for hair dryers and straighteners…how times have changed!
After changing and treatment we would go out onto the pitches. All of the 11 pitches (1 indoor 3G) are the exact size of Wembley and most use the latest DESSO technology that intertwines the roots of real grass with plastic making them incredibly stable and resilient to wear whilst feeling like a typical but perfect grass pitch. Most pitches that you see on TV that you would expect to be torn up but look great even after a game are using this new technology. It’s great to play and to train on despite the terrible English weather. Speaking of weather, the poor lads from Florida had to put up with some bitter Northerly winds. They couldn’t believe that we lived here all year round. I tried to explain that it’s not always so cold, its often warmer…I lost them after I told how much it had rained this winter. Tampa, Nottingham is not.
In between physio/chiro treatment, training and food we got to meet other people using the Facilities at St Georges. I bumped into old friend and Rovers Player Crain Hinton who is an FA coach’s coach who just happened to be one the lead coaches running a course that the legend, current Bristol Rovers coach and friend Marcus Stuart was attending. Being a Bristolian I have to have a Premier League team to support as well, I have always followed Liverpool and to my delight Robbie Fowler was there doing his badges and we managed to catch up with him one evening in the bar where he was having a quiet pint with his friends.
On my final day, Tuesday, we finally played the biggest match of the tour against Premier League big boys Stoke FC. We heard that a few big names would be playing and sure enough Charlie Adams, Steven Ireland and a few new signings were getting some game time so the Rowdies had to be on form. As soon as the match started the English team tested out the Americans physically to see if they could cope and after a few tough challenges the boys knew they had to step up not to be bullied off the park. But to their credit the Rowdies soon got to grips with the game and scored an excellent goal to go 1-0 ahead. The score stayed that way with chances going both ways despite the stand out talent of Charlie Adams and Steven Ireland. 70 minutes in, both teams brought on all of their substitutes and the game affectively changed pace. The subs did well but in the dying minutes the Rowdies conceded and the game finished 1 a piece but it was a moral victory for Tampa. Stuart used to play with lots of skill, hard work and tenacity and that is what I unsurprisingly saw in the Rowdies this week. They were incredibly fit and professional, showing just how much the game has progressed in the US. Any football fans should keep an eye on our friends over the pond this Summer, I think it going to be a great season. The Rowdies are in the league below the famous MLS but they have all the hallmarks of a premier league side and I can’t believe it will be long before they are allowed to buy into the MLS franchise.
The guys seemed to enjoy their chiropractic treatment and before I left, the powers-that-be asked if I would potentially be willing to work for them in the future, so watch this space, the next Rowdies report may well be from the beautiful and sunshiny Tampa!
Catch up with me next month to return to more usual topics like the ongoing battle for me to lose weight, baby Harry’s weight gain, toddler Molly’s gymnastics and the customary injury chatter.
