Gary Lewin (born 16 May 1964) is an English

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

who has worked with

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

clubs

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, and the England national team. Lewin was the head physiotherapist at Arsenal for a total of 22 years. He held a similar position from 1996 with England, and from 2008 to 2017 assumed the post of England's Senior Head of Physiotherapy. He was Head of Medical Services for West Ham between May 2017 and May 2018.

Biography

Lewin joined

as a young

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

aged 16 in 1980. After a one-year spell at Barnet he became reserve-team physio at the age of 19. He trained at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...

School of Physiotherapy from 1983 to 1986, before returning to Arsenal in 1986 as first -team physiotherapist. Lewin has gone on to attain a BSc (hons) in Biology and a Diploma in Physiotherapy. He is also a Member of the College of Sports Physiotherapists, and is a State Registered Physiotherapist. Lewin was called into action in 1989 where he almost had to break

David Rocastle David Carlyle Rocastle (2 May 1967 – 31 March 2001) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder in the roles of a playmaker and a winger. He spent the majority of his career at Arsenal where he was nicknamed "Rocky". Ro ...

's jaw as he swallowed his tongue so as to perform life-saving treatment. He went on to become an expert on

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injuries, due to his experiences with

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. Known as Mr. Arsenal, he spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre-back t ...

, and advised

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

's physio's on the treatment of often-injured midfielder David Dunn. During the 2007 Football League Cup Final on 25 February 2007, Lewin was close to the incident where Chelsea skipper

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional Coach (association football), football coach and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, the En ...

was hit in the face by

Abou Diaby Vassiriki Abou Diaby (born 11 May 1986), known as Abou Diaby, is a French former professional footballer. He played primarily in a box to box role, adept at both attacking and defending, and was described as a player who was "languid, elusiv ...

's foot during a corner in the Arsenal penalty area. Terry swallowed his tongue and Lewin was the first physio to assist Terry, possibly saving his life. Lewin was credited by former Arsenal striker

Eduardo da Silva Eduardo Alves da Silva (, ; born 25 February 1983), known as simply Eduardo or Dudu, is a former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for multiple clubs and the Croatia n ...

with saving his foot and career after a

broken leg "Broken Leg" is a song written and recorded by Australian indie rock band Bluejuice. The song was released in July 2009 as the lead single from the band's second studio album, '' Head of the Hawk''. The song peaked at number 27 on the ARIA Charts ...

suffered on 23 February 2008. Lewin was first-team physio at Arsenal for 22 years, and also from 1996 onwards with the England national team as well. His time at Arsenal came to an end when he was appointed by the Football Association to be England's Head of Physiotherapy from 1 August 2008. Following Lewin's switch to the full-time England job, his cousin Colin Lewin took over at Arsenal. During England's first game of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

in Brazil, against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Lewin was stretchered off. During the celebrations for the equalising goal by Daniel Sturridge, Lewin jumped up and slipped on some synthetic turf, and was later diagnosed with a dislocation to his left ankle and from that dislocation he fractured the fibula in two places, fractured the back of the tibia and also ruptured the ligaments. On 20 March 2017, Lewin rejoined Arsenal as physiotherapist for the women's team. On 30 May 2017, Lewin was appointed as the Head of Medical Services at

. He left the club following the appointment for

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

as manager at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Personal life

Gary Lewin is an ambassador of the Brain & Spine Foundation, the only UK wide charity providing medical information and emotional support on the full range of neurological conditions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewin, Gary 1964 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from East Ham Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff Barnet F.C. players Association football physiotherapists British physiotherapists West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers England national football team non-playing staff