The FA has made three key medical appointments to its technical division at St. George’s Park following an extensive recruitment process.
Dr Charlotte Cowie, Steve Kemp and Dr Ritan Mehta will take up the positions of head of performance medicine, men’s lead physiotherapist and women’s lead performance doctor respectively.
The head of performance medicine is a new leadership role with responsibility for The FA’s medical policy across elite and grassroots football. While also overseeing the England medical set-up, Dr Cowie’s role does not include working directly with teams and will instead allow for a greater focus on key strategic and operational needs.
Dr Cowie has a career spanning 20 years in sport medicine having worked within football, tennis, taekwondo and softball, as well as roles with Team GB and Team England at three Olympic Games (2000, 2008 and 2012) and one Commonwealth Games (1998).
Having also worked with the England Women’s senior team, her experience in football includes senior positions at Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and Millwall. More recently, Dr Cowie has been clinical director for Perform at St. George’s Park.
Kemp, who also joins from Perform, has over 15 years’ experience as a physiotherapist in football having worked at Leeds United, Preston North End, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Busan Icons in South Korea.
He has worked alongside Gary Lewin with the England Men’s senior team in a part-time capacity previously and this will continue at Euro 2016.
Dr Mehta takes up his position having worked at The FA in various capacities since 2010 and with eight years’ experience in football.
As well as working with the U20s’ Men’s squad, which included the U20s World Cup in Colombia in 2011, Dr Mehta has worked with the Women’s U23s and seniors, heading up the Lionesses’ medical team at the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Dr Mehta (fifth from right) is a respected member of the Lionesses' backroom team
He will continue in his role as club doctor at Watford where he has worked since 2011.
Outside of football, Dr Mehta worked as a doctor at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and is also senior clinical lecturer in sport and exercise medicine at Queen Mary University of London.
Dave Reddin, head of team strategy and performance, said: “I am delighted that Charlotte, Steve and Ritan are joining my department as we continue to develop as a world-class medical set-up.
“Their appointments follow a comprehensive and transparent recruitment process and all three bring with them a wealth of knowledge which will be of huge benefit as we continue to invest in the technical division at St. George’s Park.
“These strategic roles will allow us to provide leadership and support to our development teams, the England DNA model and the game as a whole.”
