Dr Carl Todd 200th England Game as an Osteopath

DR CARL TODD:

200TH ENGLAND GAME AS AN OSTEOPATH

FEATURE /

Dr Carl Todd has been providing osteopathic care at The Football Association for the England Men’s senior team since 2005. On June 14th this year he marked his 200th game for the senior team as they played Hungary at the Molineux Stadium as part of the qualification process for the UEFA Nations League.

It all started back in 2005 when Carl was recommended to the men’s senior team head of physiotherapy Gary Lewin. Following a trip to The Lowrey Hotel in Manchester to review some players, Carl was introduced to Sven Goran Erikson and his coaching team. Dr Todd had been recommended from a private patient that had contacts in football and the moment he was introduced to Gary, the rest is history! Since then, fast forward over 17 years and 7 managers later, Carl has reached a point in his professional career that even he admits “he has to pinch himself” because he never expected this role “to last that long”. “I’ve stood the test of time, but I’ve been extremely fortunate to have worked alongside many great sports medicine clinicians and physiotherapists and I’ve learnt and I am still learning from them all” Carl added.

During this time, he has attended numerous tournaments including FIFA World Cups in Germany (2006), South Africa (2010), Brazil (2014), Russia (2018), and later this year he will be attending his fifth World cup tournament in Qatar. Other competitions include the UEFA European championships, Poland and Ukraine (2012), France (2016) and Euro 2020. Carl admits that success is tough at international level. “Whilst part of the England’s men senior team we reached the World Cup quarter final in 2006, the World cup semi-final in 2018 and the final in Euro 2020, hopefully, this year, we can go one better” Carl enthusiastically added.

Dr Todd explained how amazing his journey thus far has been, “I’ve been extremely privileged to work in elite sport at the highest level for a long time. I have learnt so much from the staff, my fellow colleagues and players throughout this time and it certainly has helped to shape me as an individual and help inform my clinical reasoning strategies”. Carl Todd was the first osteopath to be integrated into a multidisciplinary team at The FA and throughout this time, he has worked alongside many great clinicians, including the likes of Gary Lewin, Steve Kemp and Dr Ian Beasley to name but a few. Carl’s own skill set has been developed throughout this time frame with him being the first osteopath (non-physician or physiotherapist) to successfully pass and then successfully recertify on the Advanced Trauma and Medical Emergency course.

Education has played a huge part in Carl’s life, over the years, he has developed his own style of osteopathy that integrates functional, clinical and bio-psychosocial aspects to address an athlete’s complaint. This is what he preaches, and what he teaches, when lecturing in workshops and courses. Moreover, this has enabled him to build a network in assisting other premiership clubs to find suitable osteopaths to complement their own multidisciplinary teams. His academic achievements include an honours degree in osteopathy, a master’s degree in sports medicine, a PhD in clinical orthopaedics and a

certificate in strength and conditioning. Carl had published over twenty research articles in peer reviewed journals and in November this year his first book, that combines his clinical experience and evidence-based knowledge entitled “Managing the Spinopelvic-hip complex: an integrated approach” will be published by Handspring publishers.

However, it hasn’t all been about the England team and The FA for Carl. He has also provided osteopathic care at club level from 2009 for Chelsea Football Club where he has been fortunate enough to work in a multidisciplinary team supporting a team of players that have won every domestic, European and international trophy that a football team can win. Other sports that Carl has worked in include basketball where he worked with the male and female GB teams at the London 2012 Olympics. In 2019, he also worked in Track and Field, more specifically in athletics with star athlete Dina Asher-Smith, providing osteopathic care for her in the Diamond League, British Championships and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and for the upcoming British, European, Commonwealth and World Championships in 2022.

Private practice sees Carl manage four different clinics across the south west of England and in London alongside his wife Mel. More recently, Carl has started to provide a consultancy service for medical teams and athletes across many sports, where he specialises in complex case management and offering second opinions for long-term sports-related and MSK problems in athletes. For further details please see www.drcarltodd.com or

www.carltoddclinics.com