WORKING with reigning Ballon d’Or footballer Ousmane Dembele has helped Archie Ogden make a ‘quite random’ move onto the backroom staff at Swiss giants Basel FC.
The 31-year-old from Brampton is a former professional cricketer and now a leading strength and conditioning coach.
He had been working at a hospital in Qatar where he aided the recovery from injury of various footballers including Paris Saint-Germain and France star Dembele as well as England internationals Callum Wilson and Luke Shaw. Archie told the Chronicle: “It was an amazing privilege working with elite guys in Qatar and I am very thankful for the opportunity.
“Ousmane Dembele came to do some rehab with a physio and we developed a good relationship. The physio has a lot of contacts and asked me if I would be keen to go over to Basel. It’s quite random but I am really looking forward to it. They are the most successful and best-supported Swiss club. There will be pressure and a demand so it will be good to work in that environment which will bring the best out of me.”
Archie will work under new Basel head coach Stephan Lichtsteiner, the former Arsenal player, and with an English-speaking group of players captained by former Stoke and Liverpool midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri. His role will be to plan the training schedule along with the manager, lead gym sessions, monitor the players’ fitness and oversee the return of injured players.
Archie spent time in Leeds United’s academy as a boy before focusing on cricket, which he learned at Wath CC. After a spell in Leicestershire’s 2nd XI, he transitioned to being a strength and conditioning coach, working in cricket with Northamptonshire and Surrey then football with Sheffield United under 21s.
“My first ambitions were to be a cricketer but it didn’t work out. The next best thing is to be a coach. I always had an interest in fitness so felt it was a natural progression to be a strength and conditioning coach in cricket. I fancied a change, and to broaden my CV, so I went to Sheffield United which was a great experience then again wanted to go out of my comfort zone and live abroad so I learned a lot again in Qatar.”
