A MAN from Sherfield-on-Loddon who has served as a medical staff at several top-tier football clubs has opened a new sports injury and performance centre in Reading.
Luke Anthony, who was part of the medical teams at Watford, Norwich, Reading and Derby County, launched GoPerform along with his colleague Dan Buchanan in 2017.
The duo has now opened a new and larger facility to help support people from Reading and North Hampshire areas and beyond.
The new facility was launched by top footballers including Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and Reading defender tom McIntyre. Jem Karacan, Alex Pearce, Simon Church, Jimmy Kebe and many other former players were in attendance to support the pair.
The sports injury and performance centre has doubled in size, upgraded its facilities and installed the latest high-tech equipment, after recently moving into its new home in Britten Road.
The specialist centre now boasts a 4G Astro area, extended running tracks, a mezzanine, treatment rooms and changing area.
Alex McCarthy said: “I’d used their old site a few times, and I thought that was awesome but, coming here today, you can see that they’ve really stepped it up another level and they should be really proud of it.
“The facilities here are amazing and you get one-on-one treatment with the same people I’ve worked with at Reading, so you’re really being helped by the best.”
Tom McIntyre said: “When you first walk into this space your jaw drops because there’s so much space and the equipment is all brand new – I’ll definitely be using it as some stage, for sure.
“There aren’t enough places for people who’ve got an injury or want to better themselves, the NHS has long waiting lists, so to have some top qualified people here to help the people of Reading is perfect.”
Luke and Dan were together at Reading FC during the club’s famous Premier League campaigns.
Dan, director of the centre, said: “We’re really excited to be able to move the company forward in this way.
“We can literally have double the number of people using our facilities now, which means we can serve the local area even better.”
With the financial support of former colleagues and players, they set up a state-of-the-art sports injury and performance centre for local club athletes, schools and surgeons, alongside the elite athletes they were accustomed to working with.
Luke Anthony, clinical director of the centre, said: “We typically have around 10-15 people on our rehabilitation programme at any time and provide a comprehensive programme with daily access to our team and the use of specialist equipment, such as the anti-gravity treadmill.
“I’m delighted that we have now been able to significantly expand into this much larger facility and can now grow our team in support of the people of Reading and beyond.”
Luke and Dan, who spent two decades working at Premier League football clubs, are now looking to offer the public the opportunity to train and rehab like the professionals.
Dan said: “We wanted to develop a multi-disciplinary team and environment - much like the training grounds we had worked at in professional football, where any individual could access high-quality care after injury, as well as training programmes to help them reach their health and fitness goals.”
Message from the editor
Thank you for reading this story. We really appreciate your support.
Please help us to continue bringing you all the trusted news from your area by sharing this story or by following our Facebook page.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here