Ipswich Town: New sports and exercise medicine consultant Jon Houghton appointed following Blues’ Premier League promotion

Ipswich Town have made their first staff appointment since their promotion to the Premier League with a new sports and exercise medicine consultant.

Dr Jon Houghton, who currently works as elite sport lead at the Fortius Clinic in London, will start with the Blues in pre-season and will support the club’s work on injury prevention and recovery.

The new consultant has also been the lead doctor for the Welsh national team for the last 11 years, during which time he worked at the European Championships and the 2022 World Cup, as well as with Surrey Cricket.

Houghton will work with Town’s director of performance Andy Rolls and head of medical Matt Byard along with other members of the performance team, with more appointments set to be made following the club’s promotion.

On the club website, Byard said: “We are delighted Jon has agreed to join us.”

“Jon is an incredibly experienced and widely respected sports and exercise consultant, who will provide hugely valuable injury insight and supportive management for our players in the forthcoming season.

“Jon currently works at the Fortius Clinic in London, a premier sports injury facility, in addition to very successful roles with Welsh national team and Surrey Cricket, with his experiences extremely valuable to the club.

“We know he will be an excellent addition to the performance team as we work to create the best possible environment for the club’s players.”

Houghton said: “I have been working closely with Matt and Andy through Fortius Clinic over the last two seasons, so this feels like a very natural progression.

“My role will be to enhance recovery from injury and maximise player availability and I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to work with Kieran McKenna and the team as the club returns to the Premier League.”

The new appointment comes shortly after Ipswich Town’s head of recruitment Sam Williams announced his departure from the club.

Williams joined Town in April 2022 after more than four years at Manchester United and is set to return to the Red Devils as an academy lead scout