Andros Townsend Escapes Injury from Pitch Roller in Thailand

Andros Townsend has endured hostile away days in his career, but nothing quite like this.

The former England winger was accidentally run over by a pitch roller while warming up for PT Prachuap in Thai League 1, yet somehow escaped without injury and later came off the bench in a 3-0 win at Pattani.

Townsend, 35, was going through his pre-match routine on Saturday when chaos suddenly broke out on the touchline. A member of the ground staff appeared to lose control of a heavy roller used to smooth the surface. The machine veered towards the players and Townsend was caught.

His left leg was briefly trapped underneath the vehicle, sending a jolt of shock through those watching. Remarkably, he got back to his feet and was able to continue. Medical checks cleared him to play, and he featured late on as PT Prachuap completed a comfortable victory.

The incident might have rattled some players. Townsend chose to laugh. On Instagram, he made light of the scare, joking that playing away at Stoke "wasn't so bad after all" – a nod to his own recent post where he had compared a sun-drenched Thai away trip to the famously cold, unforgiving conditions at Stoke’s Bet365 Stadium.

For a man who has played for Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Luton, and collected 13 caps for England, he has seen most things the game can throw at him.

A runaway pitch roller in Thailand, though, is a new one.