Luke pitching in
Luke Davies is a key member of Calum McIntyre’s backroom team at Runcorn Linnets. Daniel Brown finds out the story behind his journey to the Millbank
SPORTS Physiotherapist Luke Davies joined the Linnets in June 2020 as manager Calum McIntyre continued to add to an already strong group of backroom staff. His journey to the Millbank is an interesting one.
Davies studied Sports Rehabilitation at the University of Salford, graduating in 2012. Like many, he described his time at university as one of the best periods of his life.
“It’s a tough one really because at the time you’re just in the bubble and you don’t really understand the implications, but looking back now, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done,” said Davies.
“I actively encourage anyone who I’ve spoken to since to do it, it’s given me a massive opportunity in terms of what I wanted to do.
“It’s an amazing thing, university, and an achievement that no one will ever take away from you.”
Despite evidently choosing to study the course at university, it wasn’t until he suffered an injury himself that he discovered his desire to become a physio.
He said: “I fell into it really, I had an injury myself at about 15/16, nothing major, it was a grade two MCL in my knee and I went to the NHS for physio and actually thought ‘I enjoyed this’ and that it’s something I could do.
“It was the time I was finishing school, so it worked quite well – I went to college and spoke to the people there asking what I need to do to get into this.”
Whilst studying at Salford, Davies continued to play semi-professional football for local sides such as AFC Liverpool and Ashton Town.
Operating at the heart of the defence, he understood the qualities he possessed and the role he brought to the team.
“I was a head-it and kick-it centre back, I was nothing else and nothing more than that,” said Davies jokingly.
Having been involved in football from a young age, he believes that he brings more than just medical expertise to his job.
He said: “In terms of where I’m at now, I think a lot of people who work with me will say I bring a lot more than just the physio side of it.
“Being in a changing room from the age of 6 or 7 in schools or local teams (and playing for local semi-pro sides) has let me understand the level, so I know the level we’re currently at and I know what’s required at this level and that’s the positive thing.
“Being around the environment is great and in a football career, at any level, you usually come to your early thirties and finish so this (working as a sports physiotherapist) gives me the opportunity to be in it for as long as I want.”
Not long after graduating, he secured a job with Chester FC in 2014. Joining as part of the academy, he impressed in his role which consequently put him in a good position to move up to the firstteam.
“I think it’s only after you’ve been there you understand (how big a job it was),” said a proud Davies.
“I joined as part of the academy with Cal (McIntyre), who was U18’s manager at the time, and being around that environment, where people see you work, allowed me to progress up to the first team.
“You sort of get caught up in the bubble, I had five seasons there, amazing seasons with ups and downs as football gives you and I think it’s only when you step out you realise the level of the club, a massive club that shouldn’t be at the level it is.”
The level that Chester operates at requires professionalism and high standards, both of which, as Davies admitted, people expected him to reach.
He stated: “When I say you go up a level, everything goes up a level – the standards and the calibre of people go up in terms of their background.
“If you’ve got a footballer who expects standards of themselves, they expect standards of you.
“To get into that environment means there’s bigger expectations of you, so you have to either meet that, or you don’t, and if you don’t, you fall by the wayside, that’s not just football, that’s life.”
While at Chester, Davies became good friends with McIntyre. It didn’t take long for the latter to impress the former, as Davies liked the respect that McIntyre received from his players.
“Without getting his head any bigger than what it normally is, I was impressed! I was only young myself; I must’ve been 23/24 and Cal would’ve been 19/20. To walk into a dressing room and see the way he owned the dressing room, with people his own age really, was impressive,” said a complimentary Davies.
“He had good people around him which helped, people who have been in the game for a long time who helped to stabilise anything where a 19-yearold might come short.
“You could always see he was going to do well in the game, whether that be coaching or managing, and I’m sure he will.”
After spending five years at Chester, Davies made the decision to leave the Seals, suggesting that he simply needed a refresh after a long period with the National League North outfit.
“Five years is a long time and it goes back to your previous question, you live in the bubble,” said the former defender.
“The club was going through a period where it was changing, it was the right thing for me to do at the time, I had to take a step away from football and refresh really, I had 12 months out which was great, it allowed me to be ready for whatever came next.”
Fittingly, ‘whatever came next’ was a job offer from Calum McIntyre and Runcorn Linnets respectively, as McIntyre was named the latest Millbank chief in June 2020.
His first season with the men in yellow and green has undoubtedly been a challenging one. The impact of Covid-19 is even more prevalent at nonleague and with two lockdowns and multiple suspensions, it has been a challenge for Davies to monitor the players’ fitness.
He stated: “The best way I can describe it is that I feel like I’ve done a season in four or five months.
“You’ve got a four-week break in November and it’s all about keeping the lads ticking over, you can’t recreate a match, but it was about giving them the best opportunity to do that.”
The Linnets’ fist competitive fixture after the November lockdown was arguably the biggest of their season as they hosted Morpeth Town from the league above in the FA Trophy first round proper.
Despite taking the Highwaymen all the way to penalties – unfortunately losing out in the shoot-our – the Linnets will rightly feel unlucky that their first game back was one of that magnitude.
“Morpeth was a tough game to go into competitively first and I think there’s a little bit of regret in the sense that if it was four weeks earlier, we probably would’ve given a better account of ourselves as a group of players and staff,” said Davies.
As it looks increasingly
I feel like I’ve done a full season in four or five months Luke Davies
unlikely that the Runcorn players will be lacing up their boots anytime soon, Davies believes a similar situation will occur as to the one that happened in March – with players understandably lacking match fitness.
In spite of this, he insists that the strong mentality within the camp will go a long way in ensuring that, when they do get back playing, they will be raring to go.
He said: “We’ll probably have the same sort of situation this year where the lads will have had a long period without playing and it’s hard on them, mentally and physically.
“The natural match intensity is hard to replicate, it really is.
“But we’ve got a good group of players who you don’t really need to push, they’re asking Me, Cal, Mike and Col about what they can be doing.”
Although most people can agree that no football will be played in the upcoming months, the verdict is still very much out on what should happen when it can be restarted.
Many clubs want the season completely null and voided and some want to finish the season, whether that be this year or carrying it on into 2022.
For Davies, he believes that the work the players have already put into this campaign warrants a defence for it to be finished, whenever that may be.
“I think the lads, us a club and a group of staff deserve the opportunity to carry on what we’ve done. We’ve got a good team, a good dressing room and we’ve got internal aims, of course we have, and if we meet them, we’ll have had a good season,” said an optimistic Davies.
However, he also appreciates that, in football especially, things don’t always go your way. Yet, Davies ensured that, if the season does start afresh, the Linnets will simply go again.
He stated: “If it doesn’t transpire that way and we do have to start again then we have to start again but this club is a big club at the level with great potential. Without putting a number on it, we’ve got an internal target which we would be disappointed if we didn’t meet and I think it’s one that everyone at the club shares.”
Regardless of whether or not the current season is finished, McIntyre, Davies and the entire Runcorn Linnets group of staff will be prepared. That is their nature, no stone is left unturned.
For Luke Davies, he has found a position where can have a positive impact on not only the medical side of the game, but the playing side of it, too.