Smith injury among worst seen

Manchester United midfielder Alan Smith suffered an horrific injury today in his side’s FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Liverpool.

The former Leeds man landed awkwardly as he blocked a John Arne Riise free-kick, breaking his left leg and dislocating the ankle.

Smith is not the first to sustain such a sickening injury, and here we looks back at some others.

DAVID BUSST

The Coventry defender suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula in a collision with Manchester United defender Dennis Irwin during a match at Old Trafford in April 1996. The leg break was so bad that the bone pierced the skin and Busst’s blood had to be cleared from the pitch. He never played professionally again. United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who witnessed the injury, required counselling afterwards.

LUC NILIS

The Belgian striker sustained a double fracture in his right leg as he raced towards goal while playing for Aston Villa against Ipswich in September 2000. He was forced to announce his retirement from the game the following January.

DJIBRIL CISSE

The Liverpool striker went down in agony under a challenge from Blackburn’s James McEveley in a match in October 2004. His left leg crumpled under him, fracturing his tibia and fibula. The prognosis was that he would miss the rest of the season, but incredibly he battled back to fitness, making his return in the Champions League quarter-final against Juventus last April.

HENRIK LARSSON

The Celtic striker suffered a double fracture of his left leg 11 minutes into the Hoops’ UEFA Cup clash with Lyon in October 1999. His manager at the time John Barnes insisted the injury looked worse than it was and revealed his displaced shinpad made it look as though his leg had been horribly broken. Larsson did indeed return to action and went on to become the club’s record goalscorer with 242.

ALF INGE HAALAND

The Norwegian was taken out by a knee-high assault by Roy Keane in a Manchester derby at Old Trafford in April 2001. He never completed another match for Manchester City and surgery never fully solved the problem with his knee and he announced his retirement in July 2003. Keane later revealed in his autobiography that it was premeditated revenge after he suffered a season-ending injury while trying to foul Haaland, then at Leeds, in a match in September 1997.

STAN COLLYMORE

The controversial striker was at Leicester when he broke his leg in an all-east midlands clash with Derby in April 2000. Collymore required six minutes of on-field treatment, including an oxygen mask, before being taken to hospital.