Perform, the sports science and medical centre at St. George's Park's in Burton-upon-Trent, has become the first in England to receive the coveted FIFA F-MARC accreditation, joining 36 elite medical facilities across the globe as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence.

The centre - operated under the Perform brand by medical group Spire Healthcare - offers a wide range of services, including cardiac and health screening to performance analysis; nutrition; injury rehabilitation and clinical care pathways.

Being accredited as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence means it joins an exclusive 'world club' among other elite sports medical practitioners and will enable medical staff at Perform to interact, share ideas and research projects with other F-MARC-accredited centres.

St. George's Park chair, David Sheepshanks CBE, said: "This is a richly deserved accolade for The FA's own medical team led by Dr. Ian Beasley and Gary Lewin and our resident sports medicine team at St. George's Park, part of Perform, Spire Healthcare, run by Phil Horton and Dr Charlotte Cowie."

The FA's head of medical services, Dr. Ian Beasley, said: "Gaining F-MARC accreditation has been a dream first conceived when St. Georges Park was still a building site.

"Football medicine and science has grown immeasurably over the last few years, and The FA take great pride in playing its part in this. The medical and science team at The FA see the F-MARC as a route to a close collaboration with the other 36 such centres around the world to promote excellence in football player care."

• Perform at St. George's Park recently partnered with Michael Johnson Performance, the US-based performance training brand founded by four-time Olympic Champion and current 400m world record holder, Michael Johnson.

The partnership will see a new range of performance training services become available to players and athletes of all abilities at St. George's Park, as well as bespoke residential camps designed especially for nurturing the talent of young people.

St. George's Park is The FA's £105m development in Burton-upon-Trent, England, which is the national centre for coach education. A multi-sports facility, it acts as home for Club England and its 24 representative teams.