EXCLUSIVE: Knee surgeon Andy Williams reveals his role in saving Chris Woakes' career, working for 18 Premier League clubs and being recommended to help Ben Stokes Knee surgeon Andy Williams has helped sport's biggest stars deal with injury Now, Williams has opened up about his role in Chris Woakes' injury recovery WATCH: 'It's All Kicking Off' - Episode 1 - Mail Sport's brand new football show By Isaan Khan For Mailonline Published: 18:27 BST, 16 August 2023 | Updated: 18:27 BST, 16 August 2023 e-mail View comments He's the man credited by Ashes hero Chris Woakes as saving his career, and is now being recommended to England captain Ben Stokes . Knee surgeon Andy Williams has operated on movie stars, and the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Sachin Tendulkar, while a typical year sees him carry out around 300 knee procedures. Shirts from the great and good of sport catch the eyeline as you walk up several stairs to Williams’ Bond Street office. Not that the 59-year-old is open to divulging which players he’s operated on; he is coy, though his plaudits are spread by word of mouth in the sporting world. He has seen it all from a cowboy medical expert rubbing human placenta on a Premier League player to ‘heal’ their injury, to saving the life of one top-flight star in an emergency thigh operation on Boxing Day. Knee surgeon Andy Williams has helped sport's biggest stars deal with injuries Williams has been credited with saving the career of England all-rounder Chris Woakes Before going further, Williams must address Woakes. The paceman, England’s player of the Ashes series after taking 19 wickets in just three Tests, claimed his feat was possible following two knee operations conducted by Williams. The injury had seen the bowler miss more than 12 months of cricket. ‘It’s unbelievably flattering and lovely,’ he tells Mail Sport. ‘But it’s not just me, I just did a good job. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to claim success, because all I do is my job. They’ve got guts, determination. They work hard in the gym. ‘It was very fulfilling (to see him back on the pitch). The job isn’t done until you see them perform to their potential. With an athlete, if they’re just an also-ran I’m disappointed that our result isn’t as good as I wanted. So to see a player get back to their best and pull it off is a joyous thing.’ It has led Woakes to mention Williams to Stokes, who has suffered significant knee problems for the past year. The surgeon was circumspect on the possibility. ‘When a player is at that level, with any surgical interference if it’s necessary, the stakes are high,’ he explains. ‘I remember seeing a very famous Indian player who was one of the minority that could play without an ACL — he was the world’s top all-rounder. ‘Was I going to give him an ACL reconstruction? Well I couldn’t make him play any better! So I have to put my work in the context of that person’s current performance. Ben Stokes has been recommended to work with Williams amid his ongoing knee problem ‘Ben Stokes hasn’t been bowling which obviously is a big deal for his overall game. So If he’s got a deficit in performance, then maybe I am of use to him. But if like the Indian all-rounder he is playing no problem, for us we leave it alone. We treat the man, not the scan.’ Williams, who is co-founder of London’s Fortius Clinic, got his sporting break when he operated on a Chelsea star in 1999. The following season he became their main knee surgery doctor. Other clubs heard of his work and his portfolio expanded. Last season he worked for 18 of the 20 Premier League clubs and is now the go-to man for knee issues in sport, but he can grin at the key tribulations in the earlier years. One was a Christmas weekend he’ll never forget. ‘It was Boxing Day, I was on call for the NHS on Christmas Day,’ he says. ‘My phone went off and it was one of the London Premier League clubs. ‘They told me it was a hard German player, tough as old boots, who was almost in tears with his family. He had taken a blow to the thigh in their match, and was sent off in the second half. He had gone to McDonalds with his kids, but later his knee started swelling and getting tight. ‘I said, “Get him to the hospital immediately”. I drove to London, operated at midnight. You have to take the pressure off by literally making a slash across the thigh, let everything bulge out and then couple days later close it all up. So I saved the guys limb, arguably his life. He played for his club and country three months later.’ Though 10 days after surgery the player’s thigh was not bending properly. He went to the national team physician, who found liquid in there. That was taken out and the movement returned. The narrative was spun to Williams’ detriment. ‘They told the club I had drained a litre of fluid, it was 100mls — big difference,’ he continues. ‘The player never came to see me again. It was like everything we done was terrible, forgetting I arguably saved his life. That’s the real nasty side of football medicine. There can be jealously, guarding of the patch.’ Williams has worked with 18 out of 20 Premier League clubs since entering into sport Williams has also witnessed doctors and clubs reaching to extreme levels of experimentation in a bid to gain an edge. ‘I’ve seen crazy, daft, mad stuff,’ he says. ‘The problem with glamour and money is you attract the quacks. ‘There was a woman in Eastern Europe who used to allegedly rub human placenta on the body parts to make it better. I know an international player in the Premier League went to her for treatment and it just delayed the absolutely necessary operation by six weeks. ‘This field draws in the gurus who out there to make a quick buck with absolute bull****. But it also tells you that the athletes and their clubs are prepared to do outlandish things for a possible advantage.’ There’s another couple of examples. He continues: ‘I know an England netballer whose strength and conditioning coach made her jump and land on a gym ball nine weeks after ACL reconstruction — she broke her ACL again. I had to redo it and the guy got sacked on the spot. What was he thinking? ‘There was a young academy player at a Premier League club who had a six-to-nine month injury, and he was about 10 weeks in. They connected him up to a muscle stimulator with electrodes connected whilst he is on a bike and he got one of the biggest muscle tears I’ve ever seen. ‘The bloke must’ve read some stupid article presumably.’ He laughs, but is all too aware of the sheer desperation to win at all costs. That translates into clubs rushing players back quicker than is safe, in detriment to their health. ‘I remember one poor club doctor wanted me to operate on a player to take the problem away from him,’ he says. Williams recounts one rare instance of a player who he refused to perform surgery on ‘It was one of the best players in the team who were going to go down that season. And because of the pressure, the player was arguably played too early. He broke down three times in a season with an injury that does not need surgery. ‘He just needed longer (rest) and I kept refusing to operate on him. But I could see the desperation in the medical team that if I operated on him, they wouldn’t have to deal with the coach every day and the stress.’ Before leaving to attend clinic, the surgeon wants to highlight a forgotten aspect: he is flattered by the acclaim, though the unflinching reality of the other side still keeps him up at night. ‘I’ve often likened it to riding a surfboard and, without tempting fate, waiting to fall off,’ he adds. ‘Complications do occur in surgery. To have that in a very public space would be awful. It’s a continual stress. ‘(Working on sports people) adds to the pressure. A footballer could have my house if something went horribly wrong and justice wasn’t done. ‘There’s also the public humiliation of failure. Judgement is far more important than surgical skill.’ Share or comment on this article: EXCLUSIVE: Knee surgeon Andy Williams reveals his role in saving Chris Woakes' career, working for 18 Premier League clubs and being recommended to help Ben Stokes e-mail Add comment Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. Add your comment Enter your comment By posting your comment you agree to our house rules . Submit Comment Clear Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. No Yes Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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