Hartley leaves Villa to become Head Physio at Derby
Hartley worked for Warrington Wolves before joining Villa in January 2012
Written by Simon Austin — December 29, 2020
JOHN HARTLEY has left Aston Villa after almost nine years to become Head Physio at Derby County.
He replaces Robin Sadler, who had been with the Rams since December 2016 and has now joined another club. The move means the heads of both performance and medical have left Derby this month.
Head of Fitness Steve Haines departed earlier this month after 13 years, with Shane Nicholson remaining as first-team fitness coach.
There have been other changes too, with a four-man coaching team of Wayne Rooney, Liam Rosenior, Justin Walker and Shay Given put in charge of first-team affairs following the sacking of Phillip Cocu as manager in November, while Steve McClaren joined as Technical Director nine days later.
Hartley joined Villa in February 2012 from Warrington Wolves rugby league team and had been their first team physio since August 2017. He told TGG that the move to Derby was “a great opportunity for me to lead the physiotherapy department after nine years at Aston Villa.”
In February 2018, he did this piece for TGG outlining his use of the Biodex isokinetic machine for rehab.
Steve Polley has stepped up from the Academy to replace Hartley as first-team physio at Villa.
