Physiotherapist joins League One side

A physiotherapist from Balderton has been appointed to a new role at a professional football club.

Joe Sharp, 27, has been appointed head physiotherapist at League One club Doncaster Rovers.

He joined the club last week and his first game was the Checkatrade Trophy clash at Grimsby Town.

Joe has previously worked at Leyton Orient and Scunthorpe United and also has his own physiotherapy business.

He was recommended for his new role by two Doncaster Rovers players he had worked with in the past.

He knew Mathieu Baudryfrom his days at Leyton Orient and Gary McSheffrey from his time at Scunthorpe United.

Joe was a pupil at The Grove School, Balderton, and studied physiotherapy at Coventry University, graduating in 2011.

He began working for Leyton Orient six years ago, when he was appointed head physiotherapist for the academy.

Within a year, he was working with the first team and was at Wembley when the club narrowly missed out on promotion to the Championship by losing to Rotherham United.

Joe then spent 2½ years working for another League One side, Scunthorpe United, a role he had until the beginning of the season.

'Just the right job for me'

He said he had been offered roles at other professional football clubs, including at a Scottish Premiership club, which he turned down.

Joe, who now lives in Bawtry, said: “A bigger club and a bigger job is not necessarily the right job. This was just the right job for me.

“I think it is brilliant to get an opportunity like this.

“Doncaster is a club that really should be competing in the Championship.

“The manager [Darren Ferguson] is brilliant and he has got a great CV.

“He is a high-profile manager and the opportunity of working with someone like Darren is immense and, with the backing of the board, to run the medical department.”

Joe said it was challenging to balance the demands of treating a player with the demands of a football manager and the board.

“You have always got the pressure from the person you are treating and pressures from the manager and the board,” he said.

“You are responsible for players who have high price tags, even in the lower leagues — at Scunthorpe we had lads going for £1m.

“Knowing you could be responsible for the health of a seven-figure player changes the way you feel towards injuries and how you manage them.

“The best thing for me is delivering the highest level of care for all the players.

“I like working long-term for the lads — you deal with the player on the pitch, you have managed his injuries, you work with him off the pitch and then after eight or nine months he gets back on the pitch — it is very satisfying to watch.”

Joe played for Newark Town and Newark Flowserve, but quit playing five years ago so he could concentrate on his physiotherapy career.

He also played for Sunday sides BG Hawtonville and Coddington in the Newark Alliance.