Former professional footballer overcomes injury to launch fitness business in Wakefield

Will Longbottom, 23, started a personal training business following his retirement from full-time professional football.

Growing up in Wakefield with a passion for the sport, Will got scouted for Doncaster Rovers at 11 years old.

Whilst maintaining schoolwork, the young player attended weekly training which ultimately landed him with his first professional contract for the South Yorkshire club at the age of 17.

The striker had a successful start to his first season by already getting his first team debut that featured in a game broadcast on Sky Sports by coming on as a second-half substitute in a home League One match.

Over the next two years, Doncaster Rovers made football’s Championship and Will was loaned to Kidderminster Harriers F.C. where he continued his success.

However, at 19, the promising footballer was struck with a serious injury during the second half of an FA Cup match against Deeping Rangers FC.

“I knew in the back of my head there was something wrong with my knee after it popped out when I was training a few months earlier.

“And then a few months later, whilst playing, it happened again. I was going up for a header as I landed my knee popped out and then popped back in.”

“I didn't realize how bad it was as I could see a few of my teammates having ACL injuries and I knew they always came back from it. However, this one was a lot worse than what I had thought.”

Following an MRI scan and an X-Ray found that his kneecap had a defect meaning it loosely hung over a side of his knee, meaning he needed surgery.

“Ultimately, It was like 50/50 whether to retire or not, but my physio and the surgeon was telling me how bad it was, I thought I should definitely take a step back to protect myself.” Will continued.

Following his recovery, Will decided to put football on the sidelines and only pursue it part-time to instead focus on another career.

Having already spent lots of time in the gym training, he decided to follow his passion for physical fitness and become a personal trainer.

“After my injury, I learned a lot about myself, how strong I was mentally and physically and and I didn't realize how much I was learning about my body and I wanted to keep learning.”

Following his success as a personal trainer in Wakefield, Will is now launching a fitness app alongside his girlfriend and fellow personal trainer, Emily Diamond.

'Let's Move' will contain fitness advice, recipes and a variety of tutorials and will be released later this month.

On the app, Will said: “I want to help everyone else and to realize what you should be shouldn't be doing.

“I'm looking back with no regrets because I always try and live in the moment and what happened has made this happen and has made me who I am today.”

Find out more about Let’s Move here.