We have all heard of groin strains and pulled hamstrings but what about those injuries that encompass the bizarre, the unlucky and the down right daft? Here are my top five strange injuries that have rendered footballers out of action:

5. The Wooden Sign
Back in 2006 Everton’s Richard Wright was warming up at Stamford Bridge ahead of an FA Cup 4th Round replay against Chelsea. Yet out of stupidity or stubbornness Wright ignored a wooden sign in the goal mouth that said ‘Do not warm-up here’. The result? In diving for the ball Wright landed on the sign, twisting his ankle. That will teach him. Wright has a bit of previous when it comes to bizarre injuries, he dislocated his shoulder in 2003 when he fell out of his loft. He missed much of the following season and lost his first-team place to Nigel Martyn.

4. Salad Cream
Another goalkeeper (perhaps not the brightest bunch) Dave Beasant in 1993  needed treatment for a foot injury when he dropped a jar of salad cream and  stuck his foot out to break the fall. A similar thing happened in 2002 when Spain ‘keeper Santiago Canizares missed the 2002 World Cup Finals when he dropped a bottle of aftershave on his foot, severing a tendon. (more…)

Let this be the first lookalike special starting with current champions of Europe, Manchester United.

Edwin Van Der Sar / Tony Hawks

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