Football's Strangest Injuries: The 10 Weirdest Wounds Ever

Chelsea fans, cover your eyes - Cole Palmer’s highly anticipated return from injury has been postponed, as the Blues star man has suffered another separate injury.

Now, many would expect this to be a recurrence of the groin injury that has left him sidelined since September, or a pulled muscle suffered in a return to the training ground. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong.

The reason Palmer could potentially miss Chelsea’s key clashes with both Arsenal and Barcelona in the next week and a half is due to a fractured toe … after he bashed his foot against a door while at home.

🚨 Cole Palmer ruled out for Burnley, Barca and Arsenal says Maresca. He fractured his toe at home accidently. #CFC

— Pys (@CFCPys) November 21, 2025

Now, we all know the excruciating pain of a stubbed toe, but after a few minutes, many of us forget all about it - however, if your feet are the tools of your trade, even the most minor knock can alter a footballer’s routine, and Palmer will likely be given at least the next three games off as Chelsea pray for the toe to heal as quickly as possible.

To have picked up the injury in such an innocuous manner will undoubtedly have frustrated, as well as slightly humiliated, Palmer, who has played just four games since the Club World Cup.

However, it gave us an idea - what are the 10 most embarrassing injuries in the history of football? Strap yourselves in - there are some absolute corkers in here.

10. Sam Henderson (Queen of South) - Hit by a Runaway Cow

Yes, you read that right - in February 2018, Queen of South reserve keeper Sam Henderson was injured after a collision with a cow.

The incident occurred on his father’s farm, and in the collision, Henderson was thrown backwards, injuring his shoulder. To make matters worse, Queen of South were going through a goalkeeper shortage at the time, with number one Alan Martin out with a thigh injury.

in 2018, Queen of the South keeper, Sam Henderson was injured after being hit by a runaway cow at his father's farm

Cowboy 🐃 pic.twitter.com/ep8XcO9Ool

— Manuel (@manuel__UtD) January 23, 2025

With stand-in Jack Leighfield between the sticks, Henderson was put on the bench as backup for the Scottish Championship side, but his bovine bruise ruled him out, forcing the club to dig even deeper into their stopper reserve.

It’s understandable that he decided to moooooove out on loan to Peterhead a year later …

9. Darius Vassell (Aston Villa) Power-Drill to the Foot

Boasting a CV which saw him play for Manchester City, Aston Villa, Leicester City and England, many younger fans would believe that Darius Vassell was a true upright professional, putting in the work, and keeping a low profile.

Not so, I’m afraid - a key player back in the early 2000s for the Villains, Vassell had a habit for the slightly mad and one day took it too far. If you play football, you know the nuisance they can be, rubbing against your shoe constantly, and just being an all-round pain in the behind.

So, to deal with this issue, Vassell decided to puncture it. However, instead of using a needle, safety pin, or small knife, the forward decided the best tool for the job was a power drill. He probably just looked around and picked the first thing he saw. Even worse, he may have been on the phone to a mate and done it as a dare.

Needless to say, all he really succeeded in doing was making it worse, as after the DIY operation, the blister got infected, ruling him out for several games.

8. Ever Banega (Valencia) - Running Over his Own Foot

A powerful midfield presence over the years for Valencia, Sevilla, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid, Ever Banega has been at it for a while now. In his 17th year as a professional, the Argentine is back in his home country playing for Newell’s Old Boys, where he also played as a junior. It’s safe to say he has a veritable wealth of experience.

However, one experience he will not want to relive is one which occurred in 2012. Stopping at a petrol station to refill his car, Banega made the innocent mistake of leaving his handbrake unengaged.

It’s Ever Banega’s birthday today. You remember him.

What a fucking ball, son. What a ball.

pic.twitter.com/x5TkOhr7gQ

— A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) June 29, 2025

Getting out to reach for the pump, the car rolled onto the midfielder's foot, trapping it between the kerb and the wheel.

The result was not pretty: a fractured left ankle and a broken tibia and fibula saw him ruled out for six months, a period in which he was forced to undergo ankle surgery. Safe to say that the handbrake was applied to his early career progress.

7. Paulo Diogo (Servette) - Lost A Finger While Celebrating

Jumping to the Swiss Super League now, and to the time Paolo Diogo lost his ring finger while celebrating a goal with his teammates,

Many stadiums in Europe install thin fencing or netting in front of their fans in a bid to prevent pitch invaders and objects being thrown onto the field. Here though, the fencing had a very different part to play.

Climbing the fence to celebrate closer to his supporters, Diogo's ring finger became snagged, and when the Swiss-Portuguese dual citizen attempted to draw away from the celebrations, the leverage saw his finger snapped off at the knuckle, revealing the finger-bone in shivering detail.

It was a moment of unbelievable bad luck, made worse by the fact that until halftime, he had been wearing gloves, which would have prevented such an injury from occurring. One can only hope his teammates at next club FC Sion didn’t force him to perform Beyoncé’s “Single Lady’s” dance as an induction …

6. Steve Morrow (Arsenal) - Breaking His Arm While Celebrating

Another celebration-related calamity; only this time, it was the player who got injured that had just scored.

Arsenal defender Morrow had just smashed home the winner in the 1993 League Cup final against Sheffield Wednesday, a moment which would arguably prove to be the high point of his career.

As a result, when the full-time whistle sounded, Arsenal spirits were high. So high, in fact, that Morrow decided it was a good idea to climb atop Captain Tony Adams' shoulders. As he fell, he may have realised it was not such a good idea after all.

TELLY GOLD: It’s Steve Morrow’s birthday today. You remember him.

Fell off Tony Adams’ shoulders celebrating in the League Cup Final.

Let Phoenix from the Flames jog your memory…

pic.twitter.com/ZSl7fFmDUt

— A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) July 2, 2025

In an attempt to break his fall, Morrow also broke his arm and was quickly rushed to hospital. Still, it was all worth it for the League Cup winners medal … right?

5. Axel Tuanzebe (Ipswich Town) - Almost Lost His Thumb While Washing Up

You see, this is why I don’t do chores - they can be so dangerous.

Former Man United defender Tuanzebe has been hampered by injuries throughout his career. A player with Premier League ambitions, Tuanzebe decided in 2022 that it was the right time to drop down to the Championship in a bid to get more playing time, helping to revitalise his career.

Leaving Stoke after a year, he joined Ipswich, and was part of the squad that earned promotion back to the Premier League after a 22-year absence. However, just two months into their return to the top flight, manager Keiran McKenna provided an unusual reason behind Tuanzebe’s absence from the squad.

In October 2024, the defender had been cleaning dishes in his kitchen when he contrived to deeply cut his thumb on a broken glass that had been hiding in the sink.

Reportedly, the cut was so deep that he was at risk of losing it entirely - fortunately, immediate surgery prevented this from being the case. We journalists love to talk about razor-sharp defensive instincts, but there was only one razor-sharp thing about this unfortunate wound.

4. Rio Ferdinand (Leeds United) - Injured While Playing a Football Game

Seemingly the most obvious way any footballer could get injured, there is anything but obvious about Rio Ferdinand's injury in his early dday’s back at Leeds.

Footballers don’t just love to play the game on the field; it is their livelihood, and many continue to chase the feeling of playing through the medium of football video games.

On this day 25 years ago, Rio Ferdinand became the world’s most expensive defender when he signed for Leeds United in 2000. His transfer marked the beginning of a remarkable career that would see him become one of England’s greatest centre-backs. pic.twitter.com/mruBFso6wy

— The Extreme Football Enthusiast (@ExtremeFootbal4) November 21, 2025

Ferdinand was reportedly a big fan of the Pro Evolution Soccer games back in his time at Elland Road, and would frequently play as a way of unwinding. However, on one such occasion, Ferdinand sprained his knee.

However, this didn’t come through celebrating a goal or raging at a red card. Instead, he simply had his leg up too long. Nothing pro or evolved about that particular soccer injury, Rio!

3. Darren Barnard (Barnsley) - Slipping on Dog Pee

You knew the risk Darren …

Anyone who has owned a dog from a young age knows that pooches weeing in the house is part of the game. It is an unavoidable part of early dog ownership, and both footballers and everyday people have to deal with it all the time.

Of course, dogs can be house-trained, but considering the nature of this particular incident, we don’t think Barnard had been successful yet.

Walking through his kitchen, the midfielder failed to register a suspicious wet patch on the floor and, walking at full tilt, ended up head over heels and making a right fool of himself. The incident was made much, much worse by the fact that his fall resulted in a torn knee ligament that kept him out for almost half a year.

I very much doubt that Darren was saying “WEEEEEEE” mid-fall.

2. David Beasant (Chelsea) - Dropping a Glass Jar On His Foot

Very close to taking the number one spot is David Beasant, a man who would play for a host of Premier League clubs and achieve a remarkable 37-year professional career as a goalkeeper.

Miraculous, really, when you consider an injury he suffered while on the books at Chelsea during the 90s. Right before the 1993 season started, Beasant knocked a jar of salad cream tumbling towards the floor and, like many of us, his first instinct was to cushion it’s fall and prevent a break with a deft first touch with his foot.

Dave Beasant ruled himself out for eight weeks in 1993 after dropping a bottle of salad cream on his bare foot. pic.twitter.com/gw3rYNM8go

— The Extreme Football Enthusiast (@ExtremeFootbal4) October 17, 2024

However, as a goalkeeper, Beasant’s first touch was never his forte, and the Jar shattered on top of his foot, with shards of glass cutting down to the bone and severing a tendon in the process.

Beasant would later say, “That was it for my time at Chelsea.” He’s not wrong - after returning from the somewhat embarrassing injury, he could never reclaim his starting spot, and would go on to join Southampton the same year.

I’ve long believed that anything with the word ‘salad’ in it is awful, and this just proves me right.

1. Kevin Kyle (Sunderland) - Boiling Water to the Crotch

If you think I’ve put a crotch-related injury at number one just because I think it’s funny, then you would be partially right. But also, what a way to rule yourself out of a few games!

A striker for Sunderland when the injury occured in 2006, Kyle was feeding his eight month old son max, and was holding a jug of hot water that was using to warm up his young son’s milk. However, things began to boil over very quickly.

Max allegedly slipped, knocking the mug over and straight into Kyle’s lap - you can imagine the damage that boiling water can do to someone’s unmentionables. Kyle was forced to miss his sides next game against Everton such was his discomfort, and rumour has it he hasn’t spoken to his son since …

Final Word

So there you have it - the game of football is no stranger to bizarre injuries, and every year more absurd incidents are added to the catalog. Which injury made you chuckle the most? And can you think of any we missed?