Andy Carroll was spotted training with his team this week, showing that his career was not ended by the ankle injury he suffered last season. This doesn’t mean that it wasn’t serious – it was referred to as “career-threatening” in the media. His recovery will take quite some time, the club’s medical staff says, so he will probably only make short and occasional appearances at least until next year. Let us hope for his speedy recovery, and that his return will be one of the stunning sports comeback stories that will brighten 2020. While football is not the most aggressive sport today, serious injuries do happen in the field. And some of them have the potential to end an otherwise successful career – like in the cases below.
Pierluigi Casiraghi
Casiraghi had a successful career as a striker at Italian teams like Monza, Juventus, and Lazio – he was a regular goalscorer in league games and international appearances alike. In 1998, though, he left Italy to continue playing in England. He joined Chelsea in a £5.4 million transfer deal but he was mostly unsuccessful, scoring only once in his brief time with the club. Then, in November 1998, a collision with West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop left him with an injured cruciate ligament – despite undergoing surgery almost a dozen times, he was unable to return to the field.
Stuart Holden
Born in Scotland, Holden spent his childhood in Texas but he never abandoned football. After playing high school soccer for years, he made his senior debut with Sunderland in 2005. Or better said he would have made his debut – being a Sunderland player was enough for him to be attacked outside a Newcastle bar. The brawl left him with a fractured eye socket. When he returned to train, he suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. He only stayed with the team for half a year before he was let go. After three successful years with the Major League Soccer team Houston Dynamo, Holden returned to England to play with the Bolton Wanderers. Once again, his season was cut short by a serious injury: a tackle by with Manchester United player Jonny Evans left him with a massive gash in his left leg and a broken femur right under his knee joint. He returned to play after six months of recovery but after his first full match, a routine checkup revealed cartilage injury in his knee, so he was, again, out. He then returned again but only for a short time – after just eight appearances with the US Men’s National team, he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament, this time in his right leg. Finally, he returned once again but only very briefly – another cruciate ligament tear in his right leg put an end to his football career in 2014.
Alex Notman
Last but not least, let us mention Alex Notman, a hopeful Scotsman whose career was, once again, cut short by an injury. He made his professional debut in 1996 with Manchester United, from where he moved on to Norwich City three seasons later. During his time there, he played in more than 50 league games – including the one that ended his career. In a match against Ipswich in September 2002, Notman was back defending a free-kick executed by Mark Venus. Venus’s shot hit him in the foot, damaging his ankle ligaments, sidelining him for months. Ultimately, the injury has proven to be way too serious, forcing Notman to retire from professional football at the age of 23.
