Lead Physiotherapist Charlton Athletic Football Club

Job Description About Us

Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London. The club was founded on June 9th, 1905 and has a very storied history from rising to the top-flight of English Football in the 1930s (First Division) and again in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, to winning the FA Cup in 1947 and to leaving their Valley home in the mid-1980s only to make an impassioned return in 1992.

Historically, the women’s team played under Charlton Athletic from 2000 to 2007 but were released to become an independently run team in 2007 following the men’s team’s relegation from the Premier League.

The women’s team were originally formed as a non-professional team in 1991 and were highly successful in the early 2000s winning The FA Cup, the League Cup, and the Charity Shield, as well as coming runners-up in the top division in multiple seasons. In February 2021, the club acquired the Charlton Athletic Women’s team, turning the team full-time professional, and integrating them to become one club again.

Currently, our men’s first team competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football, and our women’s team competes in Women’s Super League 2, the second highest division of women’s football in England. At Charlton, we are ‘one club’ and can be truly described as a ‘family club’.

• To support the performance ambitions of the programme by leading and delivering best practice physiotherapy and professional care to players
• To lead a best practice approach to mitigating injury risk
• To ensure that optimal return to play strategies and delivery is in place to minimise time away from training and playing
• Line manage FT and PT therapists, students and interns and support with all aspects of medical provision within the Academy age groups
• To play a role in developing and sustaining a culture of high performance, safer working, and respectful behaviour

• Ensure players benefit from a high quality physiotherapy service which minimises injury incidence
• Develop and lead the teams return to play strategies in collaboration with the Club Doctor and SS team
• Ensure effective systems and processes are in place to aid the co-ordination of the multi-disciplinary team
• Ensure there is an evidence-based approach, that is appropriately data informed
• Identify trends in injury patterns, informing future practice

• Maintain strong relationships between coaching staff and physiotherapy, and between physiotherapy and other performance support functions (e.g., S&C), and wider teams (e.g., safeguarding)
• Ensure a holistic approach to the treatment and prevention and treatment of injury exists at the club

• Consult with players to gather information about health and injury
• Work with players in the assessment, diagnosis, and rehabilitation of all injuries
• Discuss all potential referrals for radiology/specialist opinion with the Head of Medical
• Devise and deliver individualised rehabilitation/ treatment plans
• Provide pitch side first aid and support
• Use developed clinical reasoning skills to review and evaluate patient progress and current condition
• In conjunction with the team Doctor and Head of Performance lead on the assessment of new player signings
• Liaise with Head of Performance to agree and report player readiness for training and matches
• Deliver physical screening / movement screening throughout the season working with the performance department and team doctor
• Provide staff with formal performance reviews (appraisals) and hold regular informal 1-1s

• Encourage the medical team to network, attend conferences and develop their craft and understanding of best practice
• To ensure the squad are supported by medical staff by arranging appropriate medical cover at all times throughout the season and off-season
• To hold a weekly medical meeting with the PGA physiotherapist, focusing on reviewing SOAP notes, injury prognosis, treatment & rehabilitation. These meetings can be held in‑person or online and should be documented and minuted.
• To offer a second opinion on complex cases and if needed,…