‘Impossible’ conditions sparking staff ‘exodus’ – Paul Godfrey

“Already medical and performance staff are walking away from football or being forced out. Not because they can’t handle it, but because the job has become impossible.

“Poor pay, lack of autonomy, limited staff numbers, ridiculous travel schedules, unsustainable hours, constant pressure to deliver miracles with little support, family life on hold, wellbeing ignored, no chance of career progression.

“These are highly-qualified professionals who want to be in the game, yet the industry burns them out before the season’s even begun. If this is happening in August, what does that tell us about where football is heading by May?

“The system isn’t broken, it’s working exactly as designed: demand everything, give nothing, replace the ones who break, and move on. But here’s the problem: you can’t replace expertise forever. When enough of the best walk away, the game suffers.

“It’s time football stopped pretending – a high performance culture doesn’t exist at many clubs, but it’s essential for success. Without change, it won’t just be players leaving the pitch – it’ll be the people holding it all together.

“So the question is: how many more need to walk away before football finally takes staff wellbeing seriously?”

The post seemed to resonate with many and has already had almost 200 reactions.

Paul Bower, the former Huddersfield Town Head of Performance who now works for Montreal in the MLS, wrote: “If experienced staff are replaced by inexperienced staff, there are profound short, medium, and long-term consequences.

“Coaches (directly and indirectly) suffer, the ‘product’ suffers, and ultimately (and most importantly) the players suffer. I am certain it is not just unique to the English game too.”

Christopher Hughes, who is a Medical Consultant at Brentford and was formerly First Team Doctor at Chelsea, called for more studies to provide objective data in this area.

Hughes, who is also Editor-in-Chief for the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, wrote: “Are there any other studies or workforce statistics to back up this narrative?

“If not, then perhaps it is time to do one. Suggest doing a qualitative study involving current staff and those who have previously workied in ‘elite football’ would be good.

“Need to also look at workforce statistics to see if there has been a change there and it would be interesting to compare the results with what’s going on in other industries and workplaces such as the NHS.”