Former Liverpool club doctor Zafar Iqbal has joined Crystal Palace, he has confirmed to BBC Asian Network.

With the training ground at Beckenham being refurbished, this appears to be a step in the right direction with recruiting non-playing staff and improving facilities.

A club statement from Liverpool in January stated that Iqbal had left because of "personal family reasons", which he has revealed were related to the ill health of his son who lived in London.

"Unfortunately my son has been unwell, and so as a result of that my wife and kids were based in London. That meant that although I had my dream job working at Liverpool, I was commuting back and forth, which was fine for the first couple of years.

"In 2012 I became head of the department, and with that came added responsibilities, so I had less time to actually get back to London

"Something had to give, I had a great time up in Liverpool, but as anyone will tell you family wins every time, and I had to get back to London."

He says he is keen to begin work in London with Palace.

"I’m really looking forward to it. Crystal Palace are a fantastic club, they are based in London, which was really important for me."

He spent four-and-a-half years with the Reds and has now been appointed at Palace.

At Liverpool his duties were to perform medicals on new signings and he was responsible for the treatment of all players.

Iqbal began his medical career in football as team doctor at Leyton Orient, before moving to working with Tottenham's Academy and becoming first-team doctor i

He has previously held the position of Chairman of the FA Medical Society.

No news on previous Palace medic Dr Bill Jasper, who had been at the club for some time, but everyone at FYP wishes him the best if he has left the Eagles.