Michael Mancienne and Deji Oshilaja who have both played football for Burton Albion, as well as other clubs including Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, AFC Wimbledon and Charlton Athletic travel to Hawk Wellness in Newark for sports therapy
A sports massage therapist is gaining a good reputation amongst former and current professional footballers as they visit him from outside of the area.
Ben Hawker who is the principal at Hawk Wellness and Sports Therapy
has had several footballers attend his clinic — most recently Michael Mancienne and Deji Oshilaja walk through the doors.
"It is absolutely fantastic to have these guys come and use my services," said Hawker.
"It is not every day that you get professional footballers traveling up to two hours to come and visit you for treatment."
Hawker said that word of mouth was an excellent advertiser with Oshilaja ringing him after Mancienne's appointment.
Michael became a client after his wife Libbi had a session at Hawk Wellness.
Oshilaja plays as a defender for League One side, Burton Albion with Mancienne also played for the side before retiring from football.
Mancienne previously played for Chelsea, Wolverhampton and notched up 125 appearances for Nottingham Forest.
"As a fan who watched Michael's iconic performances at Nottingham Forest, it was a dream come true to provide him with physical therapy services said Hawker.
Hawker said that footballers visit him for a variety of reasons, from recovery to rehabilitation with the needs varying from patient to patient.
"I can help from diagnosing the injury to rehabilitation, injury prevention, recovery programmes, and food plans," said Hawker.
"Professional footballers train a lot more than most clients, you have to understand their training schedule and recovery routines.
"I also look at the data graphs from match days which include things like intensive sprints, the amount of distance covered by the player, and their heart rate so we can tailor something specifically for the client."
Nathan Tyson and Ricky Miller are two other footballers who have visited Hawker in the past.
Hawker has also had other athletes visit him recently including Canicross and trail runner Anne-Marie Davison.
