Celebrating 30 years of Sports Therapy at London Met News

London Met hosted a celebratory event in collaboration with the Society of Sports Therapists, bringing together staff, alumni and industry professionals

Date: 30 October 2026

1996. A year that saw the Spice Girls top the charts with their debut single ‘Wannabe’, scientists successfully clone ‘Dolly the Sheep’ and England making the semi-finals of the European Championships. 

It was also the year that saw the creation of the world’s first formal Sports Therapy degree by the University of North London in collaboration with The Society of Sports Therapists. 

Thirty years on and lots has changed, including the University of North London merging with London Guildhall University in 2002 to become London Metropolitan University.

But the England men’s team is still losing in the semi-finals of a major tournament and the BSc (Hons) in Sports Therapy is continuing to shape generations of sports therapists - with graduates working in private clinics, sports clubs and health and fitness organisations across the globe.  

On Friday 16 October, university staff, alumni and members of the Society of Sports Therapists joined together to reflect and celebrate how far sports therapy education and the profession has come over the past three decades.  

Dr Kate Cady, an alum of the very first BSc Sports Therapy cohort (1996-99) and a former lecturer at London Met, reflected on her time on the course and shared her inspiring career journey with attendees.  

“Learning here was great and I wanted to come back and teach here as the University was hugely instrumental in my whole career. 

“But nobody knew what sports therapy was when I first started! I found this course and it looked perfect. I was just an 18-year-old from Swindon, and I’d wanted to work for my home football club since I was 11.   

“I was very fortunate to eventually work for Swindon Town Football Club for 10 years. My career has been amazing, I now own my own business, teach at a university and run a sports therapy clinic treating injuries from recreational all the way up to elite sports.  

"I’ve worked across high-performance sport – including England and Great Britain ice hockey, professional boxing, football, and over ten years in rugby – which enabled me to travel the world and meet some of my sporting heroes.” 

Since returning to London Met in 2004 as a lecturer and earning her first master’s in Sports and Exercise Medicine, Kate helped launched the Sports Therapy master's programme at the University and went on to teach at the University of Gloucestershire and the University of Hertfordshire. 

But making her career dreams a reality was not always an easy feat as Kate tried to prove herself in a field where women had been historically shut out.  

“It was interesting as when I graduated there weren’t many women working in football. I spent a lot of time working at semi-professional levels and gaining experience to work in that environment and meet people. It’s changed a lot now, but it was a situation where you had to go out and prove yourself to gain your reputation before you could work at a professional level.” 

Keith Waldon - Director of SST, London Met alum and former assistant manager of Portsmouth FC – was instrumental in the development of the Sports Therapy BSc and spoke at the event about the importance of developing a dedicated programme all those years ago before sharing his valuable learnings from a long career in the field. 

Professor Elizabeth Opara, Dean of the School of Human Sciences at London Met, addressed attendees at the event, and celebrated the achievements of alums with similar stories to Kate and Keith. 

“Our graduates have gone on to achieve success as sports therapists across a wide range of settings. Many have also played a key role in the growth of the profession, developing and leading sports therapy programmes at other universities and helping expand the educational provision nationwide. This is a legacy to be proud of.” 

Professor Opara also paid tribute to Professor Graham Smith, who was the founder of the Sports Therapy Society and the BSc Sports Therapy course – which was originally devised over a meeting in his favourite local restaurant El Rincon on Holloway Road.  

On the celebrations, a spokesperson for The Society of Sports Therapists, said: “What began as one university degree has developed into a profession supported by a growing academic community and generations of graduate sports therapists. 

“The SST would like to extend its sincere thanks to London Metropolitan University for hosting the celebrations, to everyone who contributed to the event and to all those who joined us to mark this historic milestone. Here’s to 30 years of sports therapy education, and to the next chapter in the profession’s development.”