5 footballers whose careers ended prematurely due to horrific injuries

WARNING: This article is not for the faint-hearted or for those who have just had their lunch. The article contains graphic images of footballers suffering gruesome injuries.

Football, by virtue of being a contact sport, has seen its fair share of horrific injuries. Djibril Cisse, Eduardo, Aaron Ramsey, Antonio Valencia, Henrik Larsson etc., and more recently Laurent Koscielny, are just some of the many names that come to mind when we talk of gruesome injuries.

Almost all of the players mentioned above were able to come back from their dark days and forge a successful career.

But some players weren’t quite so lucky.

Spare a thought for the five players listed below. These players suffered injuries that derailed and destroyed their career, ensuring a premature end to their football playing days.

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5. Ben Collett - Manchester United

Ben Collett broke his leg three days before he signed a professional contract.

Ben Collett joined Manchester United as a 9-year-old trainee. Progressing through the U-17s and U-19s in 2001 with aplomb, Collett’s performances in the 2002/03 season led to him getting the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award, a prestigious award given to the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville in the past.

Collett also scored a goal in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup final in that season. It seemed then that Collett was well on his way to forging a successful career at Manchester United. Fans likened him to star winger Ryan Giggs, and they had high hopes from Collett.

But fate had other ideas for him.

On May 1, 2003, barely a week after winning the FA Youth Cup, Collett was selected for a reserve team game against Middlesborough.

An ill-timed tackle by Middlesborough’s Gary Smith resulted in Collett’s leg being broken in two places.

The injury ended Collett’s career, days before he was to be offered a three-year contract at the club, which meant Collett lost out on the chance to earn millions of pounds through contractual agreements and merchandising fees.

In May 2008, five years after the injury, Collett opened legal proceedings against Gary Smith and Middlesborough, citing loss of future earnings. Sir Alex Ferguson and Gary Neville were amongst the witnesses called in for the case, to give evidence of Collett’s talent.

Middlesborough FC and Gary Smith admitted their liability in the case, and in August 2008 Collett was awarded £4.5 million in damages.

Mr Collett’s solicitor Jan Levinson said the award ‘reflects Ben’s talent and potential before the tackle as one of the brightest young footballers in the country’.

“Having said that, Ben would have preferred to have earned this through a full career in the game.”

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4. Dean Ashton - West Ham United

Former England and West Ham striker Dean Ashton’s story is one of unfulfilled promises, not because he couldn’t live the dream, but because the dream was snatched away from him just when he was hitting his peak.

A product of the famed Crewe Alexandra academy, the highly-rated Ashton was snapped up by West Ham in the 2006 January transfer window. Ashton’s performances gave hints of the tremendous potential hidden inside him, and West Ham had to fight off interest from Manchester United and Arsenal to secure his services.

Although Ashton missed out on the 2006 World Cup, he finally received the England call-up that fans and managers had been calling out for, in August 2006.

However, as fate would have it, a mistimed tackle from fellow England international Shaun Wright-Philips in one of the training sessions resulted in a broken ankle for Ashton. He would go on to miss the entire 2006/07 season. Although he managed to make 35 more appearances after his horrific injury, eventually all the niggling ankle injuries took a toll on Ashton’s body.

Doctors advised him to retire, as further damage could have led to him never being able to walk again. In December 2009, at the age of 26, Dean Ashton announced his retirement from football, never to play again. A promising career, cut short just when the stars were beginning to align.

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3. Luc Nilis - Aston Villa

Luc Nilis’ leg shatters after a collision with the goalkeeper.

Luc Nilis is considered one of the most talented players in football and also the unluckiest. A Belgian plying his trade at PSV in the late 90s, Nilis struck up a deadly partnership with Ruud van Nistelrooy. Between them, the duo scored 103 goals in two seasons. Nistelrooy would go as far as to say that Nilis was one of the best players he had played with, an opinion shared by the Brazilian Ronaldo as well.

Nilis quickly became one of the hottest properties on the market, and a switch to the Premier League beckoned for Nilis in 2000, with Aston Villa securing his signature. He even scored a sensational goal on his debut for Villa against Chelsea.

But a few days later in a game against Ipswich, Nilis suffered one of the most horrific injuries in sport history, never mind football.

A collision with the Ipswich goalkeeper shattered Nilis’ right leg in two places, and even though medical treatment was at hand, the damage was too much to repair. Nilis quit the game soon after the incident; a blossoming career brutally cut short.

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2. Alf-Inge Haaland - Manchester City

Roy Keane and Alf-Inge Haaland had a personal feud which led to the career-ending injury.

Who doesn’t remember the legendary feud between Manchester United’s Roy Keane and Manchester City’s Alf Haaland? It is one of football’s most striking bad-blood battles, and Roy Keane’s admission in his autobiography that he deliberately hurt Haaland created even more drama.

But the fact of the matter is this: Roy Keane kicked Alf Haaland hard on his right knee, and Haaland retired a few games later because of trouble in his left knee.

So is it possible that Keane’s tackle did not bring about a premature end to Haaland’s career? Haaland says otherwise.

"The worst thing about what he did and what he wrote in his book is the example that it set to young kids who follow big-name players like him. They see these things and they think it’s okay. I played in central midfield, I had run-ins with people every week, but at the end of the game you shake hands and the problems stay on the field. That is what should have happened between me and him.”

Alf-Inge Haaland's career might have ended prematurely, but his son Erling is widely regarded as one of the best young players in world football currently. The towering striker, who now plies his trade with Borussia Dortmund, looks destined for the top and is being coveted by the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid.

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1. David Busst - Coventry City

David Busst suffered compound fractures to the bones in his leg.

David Busst’s career-ending injury has been widely regarded as the worst injury in the history of football. It happened in a game between Busst’s Coventry City and Manchester United in a Premier League game in April 1996. Busst, a defender, had gone up for a corner.

Following a save from United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, Busst ran in to slot the ball home, in the process colliding with Brian McClair and Denis Irwin. What followed was utter shock and horror as Busst’s frantic waving of the arms drew the players’ attention to the horrific injury – extensive compound fractures to both the tibia and fibula of his right leg.

The injury was so bad that at one point the doctors deliberated over amputating Busst’s leg. Twenty-six operations later, Busst would walk out of the hospital, but would never play professional football again, and retired in November 1996 at the age of 29.

The extent of the injury was not limited to Busst alone. Schmeichel had vomited on the pitch upon seeing Busst’s broken leg. He and many of the other players had to undergo counselling afterwards; such was the impact of the injury.

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NOTE: This list only takes into account footballers whose careers were ended because of severe injuries. For that reason, the article does not take into account players like Aaron Ramsey, Djibril Cisse, Eduardo etc., because despite the critical nature of their injuries, the players mentioned above are still able to play professional football in a fit, active manner.