Tottenham overhaul medical team for second summer running, two key staff depart

New York Times

08-07-2025

Tottenham Hotspur have overhauled their medical department for the second consecutive summer following last season's injury crisis, with key figures Adam Brett and Nick Davies having left the club.
Brett was the club's director of performance services – responsible for overseeing sports science, medical, nutrition and psychology – while Davies was head of sports science.
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Both have now departed, with Davies understood to be moving to another club, and Spurs will put in a process to replace them in due course.
Nick Stubbings (pictured with Thomas Frank above) has joined Spurs from Brentford as medical lead, one of at least five members of backroom staff to have followed new head coach Frank from west London.
Spurs suffered from a crippling injury pile-up during the 2024-25 season under Frank's predecessor Ange Postecoglou, who had to cope for long periods without key players including Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario.
They lost 22 games in the top-flight as injuries took their toll, but won the Europa League after beating Manchester United in the final. A first trophy in 17 years was not enough, though, to save Postecoglou from the sack.
Brett and Davies were only appointed by Spurs last summer, with the former replacing long-standing head of medicine and sports science Geoff Scott, who was axed in an overhaul conducted by the club's former chief football officer, Scott Munn.
Munn is currently on gardening leave after being dismissed.
Brett began his career in rugby union and joined Brighton as their head physiotherapist before he rose to become head of medicine and performance. Brett left Brighton in August 2023 and moved to Spurs the following summer.
Davies previously worked for West Ham United, West Bromwich Albion and Wales men's national team.
Tom Perryman, who has joined Spurs as a strength and conditioning coach, is another new addition to the sports science staff from Brentford.
Spurs announced last month that Justin Cochrane, Chris Haslam and Joe Newton had all followed Frank from the Gtech Community Stadium.
Analysis by Tottenham reporter Jay Harris
Tottenham's medical department has undergone a dizzying amount of change over the last two years. It all started when Scott Munn was appointed chief football officer in April 2023 and conducted a thorough review of their football operations. He overhauled lots of departments, including the medical and scouting teams.
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In the summer of 2024, Geoff Scott left his position as head of medicine and sports science.
Scott had spent 20 years with the north London side and The Athletic reported in January that he left after clashing with then-head coach Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs insisted Scott's departure did not involve Postecoglou and was a result of the review and restructure of the department. Brett was appointed following Scott's departure and reported directly to Munn.
Postecoglou's Spurs struggled to balance the demands of competing in the Premier League and the Europa League last season.
One of the biggest issues they faced was players suffering setbacks when they returned from injury. For example, Cristian Romero injured his quad in the opening 10 minutes of December's defeat to Chelsea on his first appearance after recovering from a toe problem.
In the same game, fellow centre-half Micky van de Ven suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury.
The centre-halves did not return to regular action until March.
'That's been our major problem this year — guys who are coming back from injury rather than us losing players as such,' Postecoglou said on December 27 before Spurs played Wolves.
'Knock on wood but the core group of players who are training and playing games have no issues. So we're looking at those things and why they're happening.
'It's certainly happened too often this year where guys have come back and they're the ones who are missing. I think just about all of them, apart from Vicario, are recurrences of an injury. Even with Romero, it was a different injury, but it's still a guy coming back, so it's something we're looking at.'
There has been more change this summer as chairman Daniel Levy tries to avoid a repeat of last season's disastrous league form.
Thomas Frank has replaced Postecoglou as head coach and Vinai Venkatesham has been appointed as the new chief executive officer. Long-serving executive Donna-Maria Cullen has stepped down, Munn has been sacked and now Brett and Davies have left too.
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Frank has brought five members of his backroom staff at Brentford with him including Nick Stubbings, Tom Perryman and Chris Haslam.
Stubbings was Brentford's head physio and he is the medical lead at Spurs, while Perryman is a strength and conditioning coach. Haslam's official title is head of performance and first team assistant coach.
(Top photo of Nick Stubbings and Thomas Frank:)