Like so many others, the pandemic was a chance for him to re-evaluate what was most important to him.

With the island’s facilities for visiting sports teams very much in the public eye with this summer’s British Lions’ tour, Express went to meet a man who has chosen to swap a hectic career with international sportsmen, for looking after islanders and top local athletes...

Jonny Picot’s last duty for Manchester United was the Europa League Final on 6 May.

“I travelled over and started working here halfway through the Lions’ pre-tour camp and got to interact with them and see them work and chat to some of their physicians and coaching staff which was great.”

He has been busy setting up the clinic that will take members of the public and insurance patients, and learning how the Academy and sports programme for school children will work when those programmes start in September.

“I always wanted to come back to Jersey once I had finished in professional sport. I have always seen Jersey as my home and as soon as lockdown hit, I had three or four weeks at home which I had not had in the last eight to 10 years. I had two young children and I could spend weeks with them and my wife at a time when they weren't at school. Reflecting on that made me realise that I needed to get my priorities right.”

The previous four years had gone by in a blur. His life had been governed by the football club’s diary with one day off in ten, leaving home at 05:00 and getting back at 18:00 or 19:00 in the evening. And, during those 10 days there might be two away games.

Pictured: Jonny's association with Manchester United began when he gave up rugby work to concentrate on building his private practice.

“It’s an amazing experience. I remember walking out for the first time at Old Trafford, the noise is incredible and the atmosphere at every game was unbelievable. Two or three games stay in my mind. I think it was against Liverpool in my first or second season. I remember exactly where I sat and the chants that were going on. Marcus Rashford scored two goals and he was one of the lads that I had come through the academy with. The place just erupted.”

Once the move to Jersey had been agreed as a family, the plan was to set up privately; but a friend told him about Strive and it wasn't long before he was in touch with Ben Harvey who asked whether he’d be interested.

“If there was a job and things were right for the family, I’d certainly consider it and he explained what the facility was and what he was looking to do, and I said it was right up my street. It would be fantastic to work with the public again and still be able to work with the athletes. To have an involvement in a facility where you have got everything would be brilliant. Given the family lifestyle that Jersey can provide, it just made sense.”

Jonny’s interest in physiotherapy and sport began at Victoria College. After completing a sports science degree, he did another degree in physiotherapy and whilst completing his junior and senior rotations, he got the chance to work at Bradford Bulls during one of their trophy winning seasons.

From there, he looked for roles - both voluntary and paid - at rugby union and rugby league clubs, gaining experience from working with amateur and professional athletes.

His association at Manchester United began when he had given up the rugby work to concentrate on building up his private practice, having worked for the NHS. Starting part-time at the Youth Academy, he then went full-time and moved to the Reserve and then finally to the First Team. 

Pictured: Despite being a United fan, Jonny said joining the team was daunting.

“I was due to travel with the reserves to Austria, and two days prior to that I was called into the Manager’s office and asked, would I be willing to travel with the first team to LA? So, instead of travelling for a week to Austria it was three-and-a-half weeks to the United States, and go on tour with them. It was a re-structure that José Mourinho had decided on, and it was a quick phone call to the wife, and she said, ‘Go for it. This job opportunity won’t come up again. You can’t turn the first team physio at Manchester United down.’ It was exactly how I felt.”

It’s just as well he is a United fan - but, even so, being thrust into that first team environment was daunting.

“You soon realise they are very normal people although they are perceived differently in the media a lot of the time, they get the same injuries as the majority of us and those are managed in a very similar way. It’s perhaps accelerated because of the pressures placed on us, but you keep the focus on your professionalism and what I’d learned in the past. My clinical knowledge set me up to be able to manage that and I had a great team of physios and doctors around me.”

Working in professional sport left little time to relax and switch off. There is only about three weeks in the summer when the emails, messages and phone calls stop. It meant being always available and with that came pressure from all directions to get a player back, if they were out with an injury.

“The body is only going to heal so quickly. It's about recognising that and respecting the body and healing processes but doing everything you can to accelerate those at the right time in a safe environment. There are struggles along the way and you’ve got to be diplomatic at times. It was a challenge, but one that I enjoyed. But now I enjoy not having to be involved in those discussions and decisions.”

England footballer, and free school meals campaigner, Marcus Rashford was among those that Jonny worked with and got to know well at the Youth Academy, and their careers moved together into the first team. Having watched him mature into the man and player he is now, Jonny says he managed the abuse at the end of the Euros final in typical fashion.

“It’s a horrible way to finish a tournament to go to penalties. It should be finished in 90 minutes or extra time. But to mount that pressure on young lads isn’t fair, but it’s what’s the game’s about. The response to that was incredibly disappointing, but I know Marcus. He’s a tough lad who will see beyond that. The response, especially in his hometown Manchester, has been fantastic.”

Pictured: Jonny said the job at Strive was "right up my street".

Moving back to Jersey has given Jonny the chance to have some downtime while still working for the first time in ages. With the family moving over from the UK, some of that will be spent doing up their house, but the rest will be spending more time with the family.

“Jersey offers unbelievable beaches to enjoy, and we’ve not had that living in the middle of Yorkshire, so I will look forward to doing that with them and perhaps getting them to learn how to surf. They are all very excited about coming to live here.”

What Jonny hopes people will begin to realise is how the new facility in Jersey combines the normal physio services available through the NHS, or other health providers, with the type of facilities normally associated with elite sport. Jonny believes that with the level of sport in Jersey moving forward at the pace it has in the last few years, it’s time the island had a facility that matched the aspirations of the people that play and take part in sport here. Even his former teammates at United are impressed.

“We’ve worked at facilities similar to this during pre-season or mid-season tours around in L.A., Washington, Perth, Dubai and Marbella. When I walked in on day one, I thought this can compete, it’s maybe even better than a lot of the facilities we’ve trained at. We are encouraging the youth of the island to come and see it, to explore it, and the public to come and see what’s on their doorstep to help them progress and benefit from it.”

In his clinic at Strive, Jonny is surrounded by the tools of his trade. Among the massage tables are a few reminders of his time at Manchester United, such as framed shirts with messages from the players. It was a time Jonny will never forget.

“There was the experience against Paris St Germain. We were down in the home leg at Old Trafford. We went to Paris with a very young team and turned over that home leg deficit with a last minute of the game penalty, with Marcus scoring again. The scenes in the dressing room afterwards. We had Sir Alex Ferguson in there, and past players including Eric Cantona.

"I took a step back and reflected on how incredibly lucky I was to be there and to work with these professionals.”