It took them 132 years, relegation down to the 2nd tier of English football, promotion to the Championship, numerous managers, losses in the FA, Capital One Cups, players on short spells, loyal players, players who were expected to perform, players who did perform and a fairy tale to win the English Premier League title.
As Peter Drury rightly said
“I would like to take this moment to thank Leicester City football club for doing what they did to this beautiful game. They have given hope to teams, managers and players alike that you don’t need Arab money, you don’t need expensive players and you most certainly don’t need a Champions League winning or even more so a Domestic title winner manager to win the league. All you need is self-belief, passion, hard work and a big heart”
However behind the Jamie Vardys, the Mahrez, Kante and Ranieris, there is a team of unsung heroes without which Leicester would not have been able to do what they managed. That unsung group of heroes are the Medical Staff of Leicester.
Leicester hold numerous records such as the fewest injuries to players this season, the fewest players used, fastest player i.e. Jamie Vardy whose pace was recorded to be around 35.44km/h, most number of counter attacking goals. All these records portray the efforts the Medical Staff put into keeping the players fit and running match after match
The way the medical staff recovered Jamie Vardy after he injured his hip in November to bring him back in such a short time and in the same form if not any better, is something of a medical physiotherapy genius. They adopt techniques such as cryotherapy ice chamber where the players are exposed to temperature as below as -135 degree Celsius.
“The players like it because it’s a dry ice so not as harsh on the skin as ice baths,” Reeves said. “The players will often walk down the corridor afterwards looking light on their feet and feeling good in themselves. It also has a knock-on effect with sleep for that evening and the following evening.” – said Leicester’s head Physio Dave Rennie.
After each training routine Leicester players are required to submit a digital questionnaire asking them questions regarding their anatomy. This allows the medical staff to identify which training routine to ease up on if they feel players are being hurt by it.
Similarly player’s activity on the pitch is monitored using a GPS to track the areas they have been running hard in and densities are created to improve their sprints. Players are also given cold ice massages, Leicester’s medical staff reported that it puts a good image in the mind of the player seeing a big red patch after the ice bags, they feel like they’re recovering quickly.
Ofcourse their cause was helped on by the fact that their exits from the Capital One Cup and the FA cup meant that they were participating in only one competition so they had players who were fresh. But not all teams manage to do what they pulled off even with only a single competition to play in. Leicester’s combined team costed less than half the price of a Manchester City player. Let’s leave it at that and try to contemplate what remarkable ground breaking success they have achieved this season.
A story to worthy of being told to generations after generations.
