Watford’s former medical chief accuses club of sacking him for being English

Watford’s former head of medical Richard Collinge is taking the Premier League club to an employment tribunal, claiming he was sacked because he was English, not Italian.

The case, which the club have confirmed, will be heard at Watford Tribunal Hearing Centre in September.

Collinge left the Hertfordshire club in September 2016 and it was reported in the local media that this was a result of Watford setting up a new medical centre at their training ground.

This meant, it was claimed, Collinge’s position was no longer needed, with the club promoting Italian Giorgio Gasparini to head of physiotherapy and Dr Ian Hamilton taking the newly-created role of head of medicine.

Gasparini came to Vicarage Road from West Ham with Gianfranco Zola when the former Chelsea star was appointed Watford’s manager in 2012, the year Italian Gino Pozzo bought the club.

Both Gasparini and Hamilton are still listed as club employees but other senior medical staff, including another Italian, Luca Gatteschi, have joined and left the club since Collinge’s departure.

Employees with less than two years’ continuous service usually cannot sue for unfair dismissal but this condition is waived if the claimant can prove their dismissal was discriminatory.

According to a report in The Times on Thursday, this is the basis of Collinge’s claim.

Watford told Press Association Sport it could not comment on the details of the case but it is understood they deny discriminating against Collinge, who is now a senior clinical fellow at the University of Hertfordshire.

Italian Walter Mazzarri was Watford manager at the time of his departure but told reporters then that he had nothing to do with the decision.

Collinge first joined Watford as a physio in 2005, before being promoted to head of medicine in 2009. He then followed manager Malky Mackay to Cardiff in 2011 and Wigan in 2014.

According to his LinkedIn page, he returned to Watford in February 2015 and was “line manager” for the club’s team of doctors and medical support staff until his exit in September 2016.