RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Physical preparation and return to sport of the football player with a tibia-fibula fracture: applying the ‘control-chaos continuum’ JF BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine JO BMJ OPEN SP EX MED FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP e000639 DO 10.1136/bmjsem-2019-000639 VO 5 IS 1 A1 Matt Taberner A1 Nicol van Dyk A1 Tom Allen A1 Chris Richter A1 Carl Howarth A1 Simon Scott A1 Daniel D Cohen YR 2019 UL http://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/5/1/e000639.abstract AB Contact in elite football can result in severe injury such as traumatic fracture. Limited information exists regarding the rehabilitation and return to sport (RTS) of these injuries especially in elite football. We outline the RTS of an elite English Premier League footballer following a tibia-fibula fracture including gym-based physical preparation and the use of ‘control-chaos continuum’ as a framework for on-pitch sport-specific conditioning, development of technical skills while returning the player to pre-injury chronic running loads considering the qualitative nature of movement in competition. Strength and power diagnostics were used to back up clinical reasoning and decision-making throughout rehabilitation and the RTS process. The player returned to full team training after 7.5 months, completed 90 min match-play after 9 months and remains injury-free 11 months post-RTS.