Brighton & Hove Albion have announced the appointment of Dr. Gary Walker as the club’s new head of performance.
Walker, currently director of sports performance at Major League Soccer (MLS) side FC Cincinnati, will begin his new role in time to oversee pre-season ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
The south coast club confirmed Walker’s appointment along with new head of medicine Dr. Florian Pfab, who will join from Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Brighton technical director David Weir said: “After an extensive and thorough search process, we are delighted that Florian and Gary will be joining us this summer.
“Both have excellent experience in their respective professional fields, and what has been clear in the recruitment process is that they share our vision of the performance environment for our men’s and women’s staff and players.
“We have developed a world-class training facility and our aim is to give our men’s and women’s first-team, and academy squads the best possible medical and sports science support.
“We look forward to welcoming Florian and Gary to the club in the summer ahead of the new season.”
Walker spent more than a decade at Manchester United as the club’s head of strength and conditioning before becoming their men’s first-team fitness coach.
He held the role for five years before moving to Cincinnati in 2019.
Pfab, meanwhile, worked as Bayern Munich’s club doctor for five years between 2004 and 2009 before taking up the position of head of medicine at FC Ingolstadt. In 2019, he made the move to Bundesliga rivals Eintracht, where he worked as part of Oliver Glasner’s side that won the Europa League in 2022.
Brighton — 12th in the Premier League table — are next in action against Aston Villa on Sunday before games against Newcastle United and Chelsea. They finish their campaign at home to Manchester United.
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