Alan Smith: Former Manchester United striker reveals details of horror injury suffered during playing days | OneFootball

Ex-England international Alan Smith was the subject of one of the most controversial transfers of the Premier League era when he left Leeds United for bitter rivals Manchester United in the summer of 2004.

Smith‘s move from Elland Road to Old Trafford was a brave one, but he was able to justify his decision with a Premier League title and League Cup win during his time at United.

Unfortunately, Smith’s United career was overshadowed by a famous injury he suffered while charging down a John Arne Riise free-kick at Anfield. The injury was described by Sir Alex Ferguson as one of the worst he had ever seen and left Smith facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a broken leg.

However, as reported by The Daily Star, the former striker has revealed details of a separate incident that has left him with lasting damage even after hanging up his boots.

Tyne-Wear Derby doing the damage

Smith claims a clash with another former United man, Kieran Richardson, has left him without feeling in three of his toes after a mistimed challenge in a fixture between rivals Newcastle and Sunderland.

“When I played in the derby for Newcastle against Sunderland, that’s when I did it again,” he said. “I just got a tackle, Kieran Richardson came in, it was a bad tackle, but it wasn’t malicious. He just came in and caught me on my standing foot, on my standing leg, but it was my left.”

“That’s when I lost all the nerve damage in my foot, because I can’t feel the last three toes on my left side, I can’t feel them,” Smith continued. The former United man added that his ankle was unable to stand up to the impact of the Richardson challenge due to the work that was required to repair the area after the Riise incident.

“He literally just went high on my ankle, and my ankle inverted, so the opposite of what it should and it just went inwards. That was worse because I already had all my metal work in there,” he said.

No regrets

One of Smith’s endearing qualities was his bravery on the field, a trait that ultimately cost him his career after the aforementioned injuries. However, the striker has no regrets about how he played the game and would not think twice about putting his body on the line for his teammates if he had the chance again.

“Yeah, you’re probably right I would charge and block the Riise free-kick again,” he stated, before opening up on the bizarre nature of the incident and admitting it’s all par for the course at the top level.

“Everyone says this and that about Riise, and I’m like, ‘f—ing hell, he didn’t do anything wrong!’ It wasn’t a bad tackle. It was just unfortunate. You block it, you land, it goes underneath you, whatever it is.”

“When you look back at it, you know lads who have played and all f—ing put their bodies through all sorts, and they’ve all got ailments and can’t walk and can’t do that, but that’s what we were, that’s what you do!”

After his spell at Old Trafford, Smith’s move to Newcastle was followed by stints at Milton Keynes Dons and Notts County. Smith now spends his time coaching in the United States after calling time on his playing career in 2018.

Outside of his 93 appearances and 12 goals for United, Smith represented England 19 times, scoring his solitary international goal in a 2002 friendly against Portugal at Villa Park.

Featured image Jamie McDonald via Getty Images

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