Dogs injure football players!
Narrated from: Dog StoriesOne of the greatest joys for many people would be to watch their favorite football team on a warm Saturday afternoon – with their favorite canine companion curled up at their feet!
Many footballers are also dog-lovers, and have canines waiting for them in their (usually rather expensive) homes.
However, it turns out that dogs and football don’t always mix – and a mere dog can cause a lot of stress for both footballers and fans!
Liam Lawrence
In 2008, Stoke winger Liam Lawrence got injured after he was tripped… and not by an opposing footballer, but by his own dog Max! The canine got under his owner’s feet while he was on the stairs, and as he stepped over the dog, his ankle gave way!
Lawrence got sidelined for three months, but made a full recovery and was soon back on track for both club and country. Stoke’s quick-tempered coach Tony Pulis let the dog get away with a warning.
Carlo Cudicini
Lawrence’s dog may have slipped under the radar, since Stoke aren’t exactly the most popular club in the world (sorry, Stoke fans) – however, back in 2001 a dog nearly caused mass heart-attacks in the growing number of fans of recently revived Chelsea.
Carlo Cudicini, the famous Italian goalkeeper of the Blues, got sidelined for a few months after he suffered a knee injury… while he walked his dog!
"I don't know whether his dog is a Rottweiler or a Pekinese but Carlo was out walking it and it must have seen a rabbit or something because it gave him a sharp tug," Chelsea assistant manager Gwyn Williams said after the incident.
However, the injury did not hamper the player, who remained an instrumental part of his club, and in 2003 even got voted Goalkeeper of the Season in England.
Frenchman Julien Escude also suffered a similar injury back in the days when he played in France and a host of European clubs, including Manchester United, were monitoring him – dog walk injury!
Darren Barnard
Goalkeepers, especially Chelsea goalkeepers, obviously have the worst of luck with dogs! Former Welsh international Darren Barnard can testify to this, though technically it wasn’t his dog that injured him – he simply slipped in a puddle… left by his dog inside the house.
The Welshman got sidelined for six weeks, and had to endure a lot of jokes.
The wackiest dog injury ever!
Perhaps the most bizarre injury in the history of football happened in 1970 to the unfortunate Chic Brodie. The Brentford goalkeeper (yep, dogs definitely have a thing for keepers), got injured on the field… after he collided with a sheepdog! The dog had run on the pitch, and, naturally, went after the bouncy ball! There wasn’t even a foul given, since the dog got the ball before the keeper…
Sadly, this led to a serious knee injury for Brodie, and actually ended his professional career. However, he was already 33 at the time, so took this stroke of bad luck like a man and even managed to comment good-heartedly:
"The dog may have been small.....but it just happened to be solid"
The moral of the story – never tackle a dog where bouncy balls are concerned!
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