Stephen McGregor
BSc Physiology and Sport Science 1995
Stephen is one of the UK’s leading fitness experts transforming the elite end of sport ranging from professional golf to Premiership football and is now Institute Director at the newly opened £17m Manchester Institute of Health and Performance.
Dr McGregor was a graduate of the first cohort of the Sport and Exercise Sciences department at the University of Sunderland in 1995 and has since gone on to an incredible career working within elite sport.
He’s been credited with transforming the fitness regimes of golfers Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, and was amongst the first practitioners to introduce sports science to professional football in England at Leeds United, Aston villa and Manchester City. He’s now working with the Lawn Tennis Association to help shape the future of British tennis.
In addition he's worked as consultant for GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo and Adidas, is a Brand Ambassador and Consultant Physiologist for Nike and was part of the Ryder Cup European Team Support from 2010 -2014.
With a bachelor's degree in physiology and sport science from Sunderland, Dr McGregor went on to earn a PhD in physiology at Loughborough University. Following the completion of his studies he was appointed as an academic member of staff at Sunderland and then Durham University. In addition to being a published academic, he took an active involvement in the support of elite athletes culminating in a transition to full time roles within a range of professional sports.
Dr McGregor’s continued interest in the aetiology of injury resulted in the completion of an additional MSc and clinical practice within physiotherapy. He now has more than 20 years’ experience working with various populations in both elite sport and health care settings. Due to these experiences Dr McGregor is committed to working across a range of physical states including illness, injury, wellbeing and elite sports performance.
The Sunderland alumnus recently returned to campus to deliver a talk about his career and achievements to date.
During his lecture From Liverpool to the World of Elite Sport via Sunderland, Dr McGregor highlighted the contemporary relevance of the topics that students presented and on their ability to discuss their undergraduate research. He said: “I was delighted to witness at first-hand how the University students in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences are being prepared for the world of work, both from the knowledge bases that they demonstrated as well as from their interpersonal skills.”
Dr McGregor was also very impressed at the changes on the campus: “The campus is so bright, airy and open and seems a great learning environment. The quality of facilities and equipment are exemplary.”