Swindon Town's James Brophy needed doctor's note to carry on career

Swindon Town head coach Luke Williams has revealed that he and the club had genuine concerns over the career of James Brophy after his breathing issues.

Left-back Brophy, who is in the infancy of his career being just 22 years old, had been sidelined twice this season due to a problem with his breathing, which has not been extensively outlined, but he seems to be over the worst of it.

Brophy has only been a professional footballer since 2015 when he put pen-to-paper on a one-year deal last summer following a trial, which was extended by two years in May of this year.

Previous to that the youngster had represented Broadfields United and Edgware Town.

On Saturday against Bradford he made his return to the first-team after his second bout of breathing issues and was replaced at half-time by Ellis Iandolo, but purely for tactical reasons.

In his post-match press conference Williams said:

"Thankfully this time that (his breathing) is not the issue (for his replacement), it was just an under-par performance by his standards but he has been away from the pitch for a while and it takes time to get back into the rhythm.

"Sometimes you can be lucky and come in and the first few touches are very good and then you feel confident and everything falls into place but he is up against very strong opposition (which) flustered him a little bit and it was best to take him off."

Later on, Total Sport asked whether the club knew specifically what was wrong with his heart, a question that did not get and official diagnosis in reply, but Williams did reveal a doctor's note kept Brophy's career going.

"We (have) basically been waiting for the cardiologist to sign a certificate to confirm all is well for him to continue as an athlete and to be able to push his body to the limit.

"Once we had that all clear, the rest, if it happens again, is peace of mind that it's an issue we don't have to worry too much."