Every Premier League Club’s Head of Medical

Premier League clubs are reliant on far more than solely players to keep everything ticking throughout a season. Managers, coaches, trainers and scouts all play pivotal roles, as do members of each club’s medical teams. With that being said, who is the Head of Medical, or holder of a similar title, at every Premier League club?

Arsenal

Dr. Zafar Iqbal

Arsenal spent almost six months looking for somebody to replace Gary O’Driscoll after their Head of Sports Medicine departed for Manchester United in September 2023. In the February of 2024, the Gunners hired Dr. Zafar Iqbal who had worked for Crystal Palace for eight-and-a-half years prior to making the move to North London. Thankfully for Arsenal, in Iqbal they found someone with a similar level of experience to O’Driscoll.

Aston Villa

Arnaldo Abrantes

Unai Emery has led something of a revolution at Aston Villa, with his side putting in stunning performances since his appointment as manager. Ahead of his first full season in charge, changes were made to the backroom, including the appointment of Arnaldo Abrantes as Head of Medical, hiring the Portuguese from fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest.

Bournemouth

Jay Malette

Jay Malette was hired as Bournemouth’s new Director of Performance in July 2023, just months before the club announced that long-term medical director Craig Roberts would be departing the Cherries that December. In their statement, Bournemouth noted that Malette’s role would mean he oversaw “all player medical and performance management services.”

Brentford

Dr. Stephen Thompson

A consultant in musculoskeletal medicine as well as sports and exercise, Thompson was appointed to Brentford’s backroom staff in 2022. Thompson has always held the position of club doctor, but perhaps found his influence increase in August 2024 when Neil Greig, who had worked as head of medical for Brentford for almost 15 years, departed to join Chelsea’s Women’s team.

Brighton and Hove Albion

Dr. Florian Pfab

Some months before his official appointment, it was announced that Dr. Florian Pfab would be succeeding Adam Brett as Head of Medical at Brighton, Brett having departed the club after nine years of service in December 2023. Pfab was an exciting arrival, coming from Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt where he garnered a reputation as one of the best, with the team having had one of the lowest number of muscle injuries during his tenure there.

Chelsea

Dr. Craig Roberts

Craig Roberts truly established himself in football during his time with Bournemouth. Roberts spent just over eight years on the south coast, working with the Cherries from November 2015 to December 2023. He, too, worked as Head of Medical for the England national team for three years before, in 2024, he was appointed by Chelsea as their new Head of Medical.

Crystal Palace

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad

Starting his career with the England youth setup, Ahmad has since worked exclusively in London for a variety of clubs. QPR appointed him as club doctor in 2016, from which he went on to become both their head of medical and their performance manager, doing the jobs simultaneously. In February 2024, Premier League side Crystal Palace snapped up the highly-rated doctor.

Everton

Adam Newall

Newall began his career in sports medicine at Burnley, working for the Turf Moor side from July 2012 to September 2013 as a physiotherapist. Everton hired him from the Clarets and for eight years, Newall worked the same role at Goodison Park. In December 2021, Newall was promoted for both his service and ability and has been Everton’s Head of Medical ever since.

Ipswich Town

Matt Byard

Byard has spent almost three decades as a staff member at Ipswich Town, an impressive feat in itself, perhaps even more so given how often things are changed in modern football. He has worked for the Tractor Boys since 1996, rising from being a physiotherapist, to a medical director and to his current role as head of medical, which he has held since 2021.

Leicester City

Dr. Simon Morris

Morris began his career within sports medicine at Burnley, joining the club in 2010 as a physician and working his way up to Head of Medical within his time at Turf Moor. After 12 years with the Clarets, Morris departed in December 2022, taking a six-month break from the sport before joining Leicester ahead of their Championship-winning 2023/24 campaign.

Liverpool

Jonathan Power

Power spent time working as the head of medical services at Leeds Rugby before venturing into football, working with both Leeds Rhinos and Leeds Carnegie. Power has worked predominantly within the England setup with regards to his time in football. He spent two years with Brentford between 2019 and 2021 and, in 2023, was hired as Liverpool’s Director of Medicine and Performance.

Manchester City

Dan Lewindon

Lewindon serves as the Director of Player Health and Performance for not only Manchester City, but the City Football Group as a whole, meaning that he oversees the health and performance of numerous clubs. Before his hiring, Lewindon had worked for six years in the same job for the Lawn Tennis Association, from 2016 to 2022.

Manchester United

Gary O’Driscoll

When Manchester United were looking for a new Head of Medical, it was no surprise that their search led them to Gary O’Driscoll. An experienced figure, O’Driscoll spent nearly 15 years with Arsenal and established himself as one of the Premier League’s most reliable medical figures, having also worked with the Irish national team for a decade prior to his domestic work.

Newcastle United

Paul Catterson

Paul Catterson got his first role in football as a club doctor in 2009. 15 years later, Catterson is still within the ranks at Newcastle United, still serving as lead doctor at the club with which he received his start, with such a long stint being something of a rarity within the modern game.

Nottingham Forest

Prithish Shyam Narayan

Narayan was appointed to his Head of Medical role with Nottingham Forest in 2023, a club that are looking to maintain their relatively new position within the Premier League. Narayan has spent his career thus far solely in the Midlands of England, with stints at Coventry City and Leicester City before his time with Forest.

Southampton

Steve Wright

Wright has spent almost a decade on the south coast with Southampton, having first joined them as a physiotherapist in December 2014. Having spent four years in that role, he was promoted to Head of Medical ahead of the 2018/19 campaign and has held that position ever since.

Tottenham Hotspur

Ravi Gill

Gill’s first role as a club doctor came during his early 30s when, in 2016, Millwall appointed him to such a role. He spent the 2016/17 campaign working with both Millwall and Cambridge United before joining the Tottenham under-23s in 2018, making the jump to the senior team in 2021.

West Ham United

Richard Collinge

Collinge started as a physiotherapist with Brentford over two decades ago and has gone on to forge a successful career as a medic within football. With stints at Watford, Cardiff and Wigan before spending a year with Montreal in Canada, Collinge returned to England and returned to Brentford in 2018, but would depart for West Ham after six months, where he has been ever since.

Wolverhampton WanderersPhil Hayward

Ahead of the 2024/25 campaign, Wolves announced that they had restructured their medical and performance department. In that announcement, they detailed that Phil Hayward, head of high performance, would be leading the department. Hayward spent over a decade with the Molineux side before going to LA Galaxy in 2020. After nearly two years there and a year-long break afterwards, he rejoined Wolves at the start of 2023.

(All stats have been taken from Transfermarkt and are correct as of 01/11/2024)