FAMOUS FOOTBALLING INJURIES

During his spell at Leeds United Rio Ferdinand suffered a tendon strain in his knee...watching television! As his manager at the time, David O'Leary, explained: "He was watching television and had his foot up on the coffee table. He had it there in a certain position for a number of hours - and strained a tendon behind his knee."

Another player who found a television set to be more than a match was David 'Calamity' James who once pulled a muscle in his back when reaching for a television remote control. James also missed a match at Liverpool suffering from a RSI injury to his thumb which he blamed on his excessive computer-game habit.

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In the second League match of the 1975/76 season at Birmingham City,  Manchester United's goalkeeper Alex Stepney became so animated in shouting at his own defenders that he dislocated his jaw and had to be taken to hospital. 

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While at Southampton goalkeeper Dave Beasant missed 8 weeks of a season after a confrontation with a bottle of salad cream. He knocked it over and attempted to control the falling bottle with his foot but only succeeded in rupturing his ankle ligaments.

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When Manchester United were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday 15th February 2003 in an FA Cup Third Round tie United manager Alex Ferguson was not a happy man. Famous for his 'hair-dryer' treatment of players this time he kicked a boot in a moment of anger. Not much news-worthiness in that except that the boot hit 'Golden Balls' David Beckham in the face causing a cut over his left eye which needed stitches. It may have been a trivial injury but it was one that then made the headlines the world over.

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In November 1970 in a Fourth Division match at Colchester, Brentford goalkeeper Chic Brodie suffered a serious injury when in collision with a dog that had invaded the playing area.  The dog decided to chase the ball when it was passed back to Brodie - the 'keeper didn't notice the dog and they collided leaving the player with a shattered kneecap which ended his senior playing career.

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In May 2008 Rochdale striker Lee Thorpe could only watch his team-mates from the sidelines when they played their League 2 play-off final against Stockport at Wembley after having broken his arm in three places a couple of weeks earlier. He did it in an arm-wrestling contest with team-mate Rene Howe on the coach to the semi-final against Darlington!

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Partick Thistle manager John Lambie knew exactly what to say to his trainer when his striker Colin McGlashan was dazed and didn't know who he was - "That's great. Tell him he's Pele and get him back on."

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An Italian playing for Grimsby Town is always likely to be a fans' favourite, especially when the player himself contributed out of his own pocket a large part of the fee than allowed him to move from Serie A to Lincolnshire. But as popular as Ivano Bonetti was with the fans that earned no brownie points with manager Brian Laws when he considered the Italian had not tried hard enough. After a 3-2 defeat away to Luton Town on Saturday 10th February 1996 (just a month after they had beaten Luton 7-1 in an FA Cup tie) Laws confronted the former Juventus player about his lack of effort and the confrontation ended when Laws threw a plate of chicken wings at Bonetti, breaking his cheekbone. From then on the legacy of that amazing signing by Grimsby was forgotten and just those chicken wings got the headlines.

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When Aldershot visited Chester for a Division 4 fixture on New Years Day 1966 given they were visiting the Welsh borders it was not much of a coincidence that they faced two Chester full-backs with the surname Jones. What did turn out to be a very strange coincidence though was by the time the final whistle was blown both full-backs - Ray Jones and Bryn Jones (not related) - had both ended up in hospital after separate incidents, both with broken legs! Despite going down to 10 men (only one substitute in those days) Chester won the match 3-2

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The joys of married life! In December 2004 when playing for Servette against Schaffhausen in a Swiss League match Paulo Diogo jumped on one of the boundary fences to celebrate a Servette goal. Not being aware that his wedding ring was caught on the fence he jumped down leaving behind the ring and much of his finger, the rest having to be amputated in hospital. And he was booked by ref Florian Etter for excessive celebration of the goal. Ouch!

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In the days before substitutes injured players were often expected to stay on the pitch and do their duty. In one instance, on Saturday 16th February 1952 at Villa Park, Stoke goalkeeper Dennis Herod suffered a first half injury in a First Division match. He was patched up and sent out for the second half and asked 'to make a nuisance of himself' on the left wing. He did - and scored the winning goal in Stoke's 3-2 victory over Aston Villa. His injury - a broken arm!

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In March 2009 three-times FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo made his competitive debut for Brazilian side Corinthians as a sub after thirteen months out of the game following surgery for a career-threatening knee injury. He survived the 20 minutes he spent on the pitch without a problem only to end up with a badly bruised and swollen right eye after being hit by a microphone when a post-match media scrum surrounded him while attempting to get an interview.

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In October 2010 it was announced that French footballer Yoan Gouffran had an allergy which was a bit of a problem for a footballer - grass. His manager at Bordeaux, former Fulham boss Jean Tigana, said 'For a footballer, it's embarrassing'. Perhaps so, but thankfully there is now one footballer who won't be making intentional dives!

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Don't forget the managers who suffer for their cause as well, and not just through stress. In November 2011 Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini stood up quickly in a tense moment in a Champions League match at Villarreal and discovered that the dugouts at the El Madrigal ground were not for standing up in - low roofs!. He spent the rest of the match with an ice-pack on his head.