TIOFFO ‘I THOUGHT I MIGHT NOT PLAY AGAIN’

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U18s striker discusses goalscoring return to action

2024-04-25T08:54:31.264Z

TIOFFO ‘I THOUGHT I MIGHT NOT PLAY AGAIN’

U18s striker discusses goalscoring return to action

2024-04-25T08:54:31.264Z

U18s striker discusses goalscoring return to action

Burnley U18s’ Professional Development League fixture against Cardiff City on Saturday 20th April may not immediately stand out as being a particularly significant occasion.

However, for forward Ryan Tioffo, his team-mates and the staff involved, the fixture will forever hold a special place in their hearts.

The young Clarets beat the Bluebirds 3-1 at the Burnley Training Centre and the 18-year-old was introduced as a 70th-minute substitute, ending the best part of a year on the sidelines with a rare injury.

Tioffo had an almost immediate impact, too, winning and scoring a penalty to make the occasion even more special.

“Two days into pre-season I was doing some runs and tore my hamstring,” Tioffo said.

“When I had the initial ultrasound there was something blocking the actual tear and it turned out that I had a bone growing in my hamstring – it’s called myositis ossificans.

“Normally when that happens the extra bone growing is a centimetre or two long, but mine was 20 centimetres. Straight away the doctors and physio thought that’s not normal.”

Tioffo came through the Club’s Academy ranks, making his U18s debut against Manchester City in April 2021.

He then penned a two-year scholarship in the summer of 2022 and excelled in the 2022/23 campaign, rarely missing a minute and becoming one of Tony Philliskirk’s side’s top scorers.

“It was initially thought that I’d be out for four months,” Tioffo continued.

“The first process was to try and make the bone dissolve but the four months passed and it wasn’t getting any better.

“They then did the opposite and tried to make the bone harder so that I could have surgery to remove it – that happened about three months later.”

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Then followed a period of rehabilitation, with Tioffo doing repetitive hamstring exercises and taking Vitamin D tablets to strengthen the muscle.

A lot of the youngster’s work was guided by Academy Development Physiotherapist Bradley Steedman who, coincidentally, worked his final game for the Club against Cardiff.

“Brad really helped me throughout everything – if I didn’t have him, I think I would have been in my head a lot more.

“There was a thought that I might not play again, especially when I first found out - they’d never seen the injury before and I could tell all the doctors and physios were shocked.”

Fast forward to the present day, and Tioffo resumed training with the U18s squad just under a month ago.

It was a phased approach and the first week the forward would just take part in the warm-up and technical elements, before running separately.

“Cardiff’s been a target to come back for quite a while now - I knew it was Brad’s last day as well, so I tired extra hard to be back.

“I wouldn’t say I was nervous on the day, but it just didn’t seem normal anymore because I hadn’t done it for so long. It bought some joy to be involved again.

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“Tony (Philliskirk) told me to go and warm up, and that’s when I knew that I’d be coming on soon.

“My goal was to get a goal, and to be able to celebrate with Brad. I discussed that with him pre match!

“It was a free-kick which was cleared. I saw all the defenders push up and that the ball was falling to Zach Johnson so I knew straight away that he’d send it back over.

“I started running, the ball came over and because I’d seen the ‘keeper coming over I jumped up to try and head the ball – he took me out and the referee gave a penalty.

Given the length of time he spent on the sidelines, Tioffo is of course not the team’s usual penalty taker. However, as he explained, his team-mates were more than happy to let him have this one.

“I was on the floor and stood up a bit dazed. Benji (Wetshi) had the ball and everybody was saying to give it to me.

“After placing the ball down I took my steps back and was looking down. As I stepped up, I looked to my left where I was going to shoot - I don’t know if that’s mind games or not, but I always do it.

“Thankfully the ‘keeper dived the other way and I found the bottom left corner and scored.

“I ran to Brad, gave him a hug and all my team-mates came over. Everyone was just happy and clapping for me which was nice; I think that shows there’s a real togetherness within the group.

“Hopefully I can get a full 90 minutes before the end of the season and improve my fitness as much as possible.”