Named as one of the best 50 surgeons in Britain by the Times Newspaper, he is Professor of Exercise and Sports Medicine at the University and a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust. Professor Fairclough is Honorary Professor at Swansea, Cardiff and Malay Universities and has been President of the British Orthopaedic Sports and Trauma Association. In his early career John worked as a medical office in Papua New Guinea where he ran a leper colony and was responsible for managing a polio epidemic. He has been Chairman of the Football Association of Wales Medical Committee, medical officer to Glamorgan Cricket and surgeon to the Welsh Rugby Union.