Words John Edwards

A familiar face is back at The J.Davidson Stadium after Tommy Uda, highly valued and highly rated by manager Phil Parkinson, made a welcome return to the fold.

Tommy had a memorable four seasons as sports therapist at Altrincham at the start of Phil's reign, working alongside Ryan Murray and helping provide the Robins' squad with a high calibre of medical care.

He left in 2021 after deciding to enrol for a two-year masters course in physiotherapy at Keele University, and while the club were sorry to see him go, everyone understood that his studies would require his full attention.

The course completed, he expressed a wish to immerse himself in football once more, and Phil had no hesitation in welcoming him back on board at Alty in a new position as head physiotherapist.

In an interview with Alty TV, Tommy said: "After finishing the course in January, I was really keen to get back into football, and when I had a chat with the gaffer, I was really pleased to hear he was keen to have me back.

"We've always had a great relationship, going back to Nantwich days, and this club means so much to me. I've got lifelong memories that I'll cherish forever from my first spell here. It was amazing, and I'm hoping there will be more to come, moving forward.

"I brought my children along to games at Alty, in between studies at Keele, and I've watched games on TV and listened to commentaries on Radio Robins. I'm a fan as well as anything else. There were options to go elsewhere, but this was the right one for me. It's the best place for me to be, and I can't wait to get started again."

*Watch out for the AltyTV interview, here on the club's website, in which Tommy goes into detail about his new role and explains the differences between being sports therapist and head physio.