Worst Injurys part 2

Number 5: Petr Cech, Chelsea vs Reading (2006)

The first of our countdown of the worst football injuries not to involve any king of leg break, is Petr Cech’s shocking head injury from 2006. The big shot stopper was trying to snuff out an attack from Reading when striker Stephen Hunt caught him on the side of the head with his knee. Cech was rushed to hospital due to a suspected blood clot, and required serious surgery for a depressed skull fracture. Having been in danger of losing his life the keeper was told that he would miss at least a year of action but in fact made a miraculous recovery to be back on the pitch inside three months.

Number 4: Marcin Wasilewski, Anderlecht vs Standard Liege (2009)

The victim of the fourth of our worst football injuries countdown may not be the most famous, but his injury was so horrific that he could not fail to make the list. Anderlecht defender Wasilewski suffered a nasty stamp from Liege’s Alex Witsel which left him with open fractures of his tibia and fibula. Wasilewski’s recovery lasted close to ten months and Witsel received an eight game ban from the Belgian FA.

Number 3: Patrick Battiston, France vs West Germany (1982)

The foul which led to the number three on our chart of the worst football injuries is probably one of the most notorious and unbelievable in the game’s history. France’s Battiston was clean through on goal with just the keeper to beat when he became the victim of an astonishing aerial bodycheck from Harald Schumacher. So violent was the foul that it left Battiston in a coma and caused numerous injuries including damaged vertebrae, a broken jaw and the loss of four of his front teeth. The Frenchman eventually returned to action with his club five months later.

Number 2: Alf Inge Haaland, Manchester City vs Manchester United (2001)

Number two on the chart of the worst football injuries is the only one which was unequivocally inflicted deliberately according to the perpetrator. In his autobiography some years later, Roy Keane admitted going into this game with the intention of hurting Haaland and succeeded in drastic fashion. The Irishman’s vicious lunge left Haaland writhing in pain with a dreadful knee injury that ultimately ended his career two years later.

Number 1: David Busst, Coventry vs Manchester United (1996)

Television coverage at the time refused to show the number one on the list of the worst football injuries in history, and it’s little wonder when you realise that the sight of it caused United keeper Peter Schmeichel to vomit on the spot. Coventry’s Busst had gone into a 50/50 challenge with both Dennis Irwin and Brian Mcclair, and ended up with extensive compound fractures and a fibula that pierced the skin of his leg. Initially there was a real fear that he may lose his leg, but whilst he avoided this Busst did lose the rest of his career.