Tony Daley and the science of fitness in the Wolves laboratory
Men in white coats at football clubs used to sell programmes and burgers.
Now they’re scientists and mathematicians and allowing footballers to play into middle age when once they would be opening pubs.
Imagine the scene: the Mars Bar FA Cup Final of 2017. Wolverhampton Wanderers taking on Premier Elite 1 champions Microsoft FC (formerly West Bromwich Albion until bank-rolled by Bill Gates).
Albion (formerly the ‘Baggies’ and now the ‘Softies’) have the international stars under player-boss Wayne Rooney. But Wolves have the experience. In their line-up, no less than half a dozen players barking up the wrong side of 35.
Kevin Doyle, veteran of eight years' service and 200 goals is there. So too a balding Matt Jarvis. A greying Karl Henry has been captain throughout the turbulent takeover years of 2013-2015 when successive relegations threatened the club’s future before Suzi Perry and Beverley Knight’s buy-out.
Jody Craddock is there at 42. He’s a millionaire several times over as his paintings adorn the walls of Milan’s Studio Vasoli alongside Picasso and Matisse.
Okay, back in the real world.... but stay with Milan.
Last week at Old Trafford, no fewer than seven of AC Milan’s 2003 Champions League starting XI and three used substitutes were still in their squad.
Most accept it wasn’t by fluke. Most point to the emergence of the Milan Lab which sprang into life following the disastrous £13.5 million purchase of Redondo from Real Madrid. The Argentinian was an utter crock over four years.
Here’s where Wolves come in.
Remember all that kerfuffle about a changed team at Old Trafford? Mick McCarthy pulled a piece of paper from his breast pocket, slipped on his spectacles and told post-match reporters that his decision was based on years of research at the Milan Lab.
Set up by Belgian chiropractor Jean-Pierre Meersseman, the Lab had started to predict and prevent injuries and even suggest when a player needs to be rested.
‘Attention to detail’ was their motto.
Chelsea are trying to follow suit. And Wolves? Already well down the road after becoming the first football club and also the first professional sports club in the UK to have an accredited laboratory.
Based at the club’s plush Compton training ground it has come through the rigorous accreditation procedure set by British Association of Sports and Exercise Sciences.
It is kitted out with space age technology akin to something out of Blake’s Seven: Isokinetics, dynamic ultrasound, postural sway analysis, hydrotherapy and Cryotherapy. Even anti gravity treadmills.
That’s a big difference from a cupboard which used to house a ‘magic’ sponge immersed in cold water in a metal bucket.
“Don’t get me wrong, football is all about ability, scoring goals and everything else but this is about getting that extra one per cent,” says Wolves coach Tony Daley.
“That could be the difference between being relegated, being promoted, winning the cup or whatever - prolonging another year or two (onto a career) - it is only a small percentage but it can be massive.”
Daley made his name as his flying winger with Villa. But, here’s the irony, injury cut him short.
Now - after a decade of study - the fitness and conditioning coach at Molinuex is thrilled at the advances in technology available to players.
“Things have gone a long way since my playing days,” he says. “I was always interested in learning about the human body and how it functions.
