Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Craig Bellamy, Jimmy Bullard and more recently Owen Hargreaves and James Vaughan.

These are just a handful of the past and present top-flight talents who, faced with a career threatening knee injury, have continued to wow Premier League audiences thanks to the work of eminent orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Richard Steadman, writes Claire Harmer.

Steadman first came to the attention of football fans in January 2001, when he operated on former England and Newcastle United captain Alan Shearer at his clinic in Vail, Colorado. The Premier League's all-time top scorer was suffering with a serious ligament injury to his right knee, and surgery was his only hope of returning to the field.

Against the odds, Shearer recovered after the operation and the Magpies' fans were given a further six seasons in which to worship their hero. Upon his return, he was quick to thank "the genius who saved my career."

In the nine years since, Dr Steadman has operated on dozens of Premier League players, and is now widely thought of as the man to go to to correct troublesome knees. Most recently, Hull City sent Bullard's scans to Dr Steadman as a precaution when the midfielder suffered a relatively minor knee problem.

But what has made the man from Texas so successful?

Part of it, he says, is down to his innovative Microfracture technique, a surgical procedure he has pioneered to treat damaged areas of cartilage in the knee. The method uses the body's ability to heal itself and provides the perfect environment for tissue regeneration. Since it was introduced 20 years ago, impressive success rates have been recorded with 75-80 per cent of patients experiencing significant pain relief.

Dr Steadman explains how he devised the technique: "Back in the Eighties I looked at all the different procedures available to try to use the body's ability to make cartilage.

"I thought we could create a combination of factors that would give the best chance of encouraging new cartilage to form. It involved changing the procedure that had been used before, creating a live surface for the new tissue to form on, and then changing the rehabilitation programme.

"The feeling was that the rehabilitation would be important in making new cartilage form. That combination of factors has allowed us to have a successful procedure."

It is his belief in the importance of post-surgery rehabilitation that has contributed to the 70-year-old's worldwide acclaim. Steadman and his team devise an individual rehabilitation programme for each patient, and in the case of footballers, work closely with their club's medical team to ensure the best possible outcome.

He adds: "We have a programme we follow and a theory of rehabilitation that allows us to treat patients as long as we have a good person to work with.

"Patients from the UK usually bring a doctor or trainer with them. We feel that if they are involved in the process and watch while we do the surgery, it makes it easier for them to go forward with the treatment.

"I do the surgery and can give guidance on rehabilitation but we rely on the club's training staff to make it work."

Indeed, Steadman has been dubbed the pioneer of rehabilitation and has been praised by many of his former patients. Newcastle's Michael Owen, on whom he operated in 2006, was full of praise for the man he described as 'remarkable.' In the aftermath of his surgery the striker said: "He makes you feel better in every way. He even took me out for dinner - that's taking care of your patients!"

And Owen was not alone in delivering a glowing tribute. After surgery to correct a career-threatening injury while playing for Fulham, Jimmy Bullard revealed: "It was a nightmare but I finally got through it and Dr Steadman was brilliant. I was on the phone to him all the time. What a man and to get me back playing, I owe so much to him."

Craig Bellamy might never have made his multi-million pound switch to Manchester City had it not have been for Steadman's expertise in treating an injury he picked up in 2003. The Welshman said: "There is no doubt that he saved my career. I did not think I would be coming back. I can never thank him enough. It's like someone has given me a new knee and said 'go on, here's your career'."

Of course, when a player is in pain and the chance of a return seems a lifetime away, they are facing one of the darkest times in the career. With his bedside manner having won such resounding praise for some of football's elite, what is it that the acclaimed doctor says in order to keep his crocked stars motivated during a long rehabilitation process?

"It's a very difficult time for an athlete when he has an injury, and the worst thing you can do it to create unrealistic expectations," says the surgeon.

"We go through every step in the recovery process and explain what they should and could expect, so it's not a mystery. That takes a lot of the worry out, knowing that there is a programme in place. We have treated enough patients to know we can be confident it will be successful."

Quite apart from Steadman's skills with a scalpel, his patients also benefit from recuperating in the beautiful and secluded surroundings of mountainous Vail. This, Steadman believes, aids a speedy recovery.

"The clinic is quite secluded which is a benefit," he said. "It takes the outside effects on the patient away and they can just concentrate on their injury. All the patients that come here seem to like the atmosphere."

And as for the clinic itself, Dr Steadman outlines what his patients can expect: "We are based in a reasonably small area, and have a clinic in one portion, surgery is immediately adjacent and then rehabilitation centre next to that. So, when someone comes they get everything in one small space, which means we can see the patients most days, and during their rehabilitation we can make changes to their individual programme easily.

"They are not superstars to us, they're just any other patient. That helps them concentrate on the rehabilitation, without too much interest on the part of other people in the clinic."

But even after they have checked out of the rehabilitation centre, the aftercare does not stop for a patient of the distinguished doctor. In 1990, the Texan moved to set up his Colorado clinic, and founded his research foundation together with Dr Richard Hawkins. The work that has been done through the Steadman-Hawkins Foundation has helped doctors the world over better understand the techniques required in dealing with a multitude of sporting injuries.

Steadman says: "For example, the Microfracture was already a success, but in the mid '90s we did research that gave us a better understanding on the length of time it takes for cartilage to heal and on the effects of rehabilitation on the new forming cartilage.

"Our research validates the results we collect from our patients, and it helps us refine the techniques that we are using through the research. That in turn helps us to better understand our success rate.

"The research foundation ties in to our clinic. Not only do we do the surgery, we also do the follow-up.

Dr Steadman has been a major, yet quiet influence on the success of some of the Premier League's biggest names. Without him, we may have been deprived of the last years of Alan Shearer's career. Perhaps Craig Bellamy would have been forced to call it quits six years ago, and maybe Ruud van Nistelrooy would never have graced Manchester United's team-sheet, after rupturing his cruciate knee ligaments before his deal with the Red Devils was completed.

Surprisingly however, despite all his work in the background, Steadman has never been to a Premier League match.

"It's not for the lack of desire," he emphasises with a laugh. "I've watched a lot on TV and I am very familiar with what is going on there. I watch a lot of my grandchildren's team and I am interested in the sport. It's just that I'm so busy here!"

Needless to say, having helped an array of the top-flight's brightest stars, he'd be a welcome face at any Premier League ground for years to come.