I see we're in for a new head physio too...

(Pinkun)

Norwich medical chief Chris Burton will depart the Canaries in the summer.

Burton headed up the physio department across the club and will leave after nearly nine years at Carrow Road to run his own clinic.

The Canaries are now looking for a replacement using outside recruitment specialists under the direction of recently-appointed performance director, Dr Paul Ford.

Burton confirmed the news on his LinkedIn account on Wednesday morning.

He posted: ‘After almost nine years, I have taken the decision to step away from my role at Norwich City football club in the summer to move into the Burton Clinic full-time.

‘Although it has been a difficult decision to leave the club and the amazing people within it, I am super excited as we look to grow and develop the business from strength to strength, offering both specialist physiotherapy and sports injury rehabilitation services to the demographic of Norwich and individual athlete and club, medical and performance consultancy services to the wider demographic.

‘I now plan to enjoy the exciting end of an unforgettable season and support the new club wide performance director Dr Paul Ford in shaping the performance department at the club moving forward.’

Burton joined the club in November 2017 from Scunthorpe, with previous experience at Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, Hull City, Queens Park Rangers and Peterborough United

City’s injury record in recent seasons at first team level has been the subject of increased scrutiny, with audits undertaken and a public acknowledgement from sporting director, Ben Knapper, in May 2025 Norwich needed to improve their player welfare management.

Ford started his new role earlier this month, and head coach, Philippe Clement, made it clear recently he does not want to contend with the same volume of injuries in the future.

“We're digging in deep with that, with all the departments, with the medical department, with the performance department, with all the club,” he said. “There are some, how to say this, I don't want to go too deep in it, because there are, for sure, some things out of the past, but I don't want to point at people who are not here, or not here any more in the building.

"It's about taking the right lessons out of that and to look forward to make things better now, and towards the pre-season to build the players to be more robust.

“It's also about now. And I think there are several players who took a good step, also the team in general. If you see our physical data now compared with three months ago, there's a big difference, but it's about getting all the squad more available for more minutes.”

City are advertising for a head of physiotherapy, with primary responsibility for the men’s first team on matchdays, under Ford’s direction, with a scheduled start date of June 2026.

The successful candidate will lead a team across physiotherapy, soft tissue therapy and rehabilitation within the club’s performance department.

Posted By: DrDublin on April 22nd 2026 at 11:41:22

Message Thread

Injury news in. (NCFC) - ParrotPuncher, Apr 22, 11:36:11
- But is he out on the pitch training ? (n/m) (NCFC) - MORDENCANARY, Apr 22, 12:50:44
- I see we're in for a new head physio too... (NCFC) - DrDublin, Apr 22, 11:41:22
  - There's quite a bit to unpack here.... (NCFC) - usacanary, Apr 22, 13:15:10
  - Presumably though the physio just treats/deals with recovery? Its the conditioning/sports (NCFC) - Jim, Apr 22, 12:30:51
    - But then aren't they under the instruction of the head physio? (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Apr 22, 12:32:24
      - (Not saying the head physio has done anything wrong, just thinking of those PC words) (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Apr 22, 12:33:00
        
        I don't know to be honest! (n/m) (NCFC) - Jim, Apr 22, 12:33:32
        
        lolf, nor I frankly. (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Apr 22, 12:35:30
        
        I see he's described as Head of Medical so perhaps he does oversee it all (n/m) (NCFC) - Jim, Apr 22, 12:38:31
        
        I thought that was role of the new Performance Director (n/m) (NCFC) - Legacy Fan, Apr 22, 15:31:51
  - Been a bit of a mess our physio dept since Stu Wardle left (n/m) (NCFC) - Tony Martin, Apr 22, 11:56:59
    - Not that he named anyone but it was clear PC was unhappy with the department. (n/m) (NCFC) - DrDublin, Apr 22, 11:58:00

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