Pad to Worse - Former Tottenham Star’s Horror Injury Must Force Football to Rethink ‘Stupid’ Shinpad Rules

Always Wear Protection – How A Former Premier League Star's Injury Could Have Been Easily Avoided

I hate to say I told you so, but I did tell you so. Back in December, I wrote a piece discussing the hilariously tiny shinpads that have grown exponentially in their use across Europe’s top five leagues.

More specifically, I discussed that it was only a matter of time until an injury occurred exclusively because the miniature shin guards were too small to protect a player from a dangerous tackle. Well, that moment has arrived, and I hate to re-emphasise, but I called it.

Remember Lewis Holtby, formerly of Tottenham, Fulham and Blackburn Rovers? Well, the German, who now operates at NAC Breda in the Netherlands, will serve as our unfortunate example after he was on the receiving end of what was in truth a perfectly fair challenge had he been wearing the proper gear.

This injury could’ve been prevented if Lewis Holtby wasn’t wearing those tiny shin pads.

I’ll never understand this trend at all… 😒🤷‍♂️https://t.co/fdOWZudUeA

— Football Away Days (@FBAwayDays) April 12, 2026

Of course, regardless of what he was wearing on his shins, it would have been classed as a bad tackle either way. However, had Holtby been wearing regulation-sized shinguards instead of Tic Tac tins, we wouldn’t be talking about it – the trend has gone too far now, and something needs to change.

Don’t Look Down

It was clear from the moment the camera zoomed in on Lewis Holtby’s shin that he had not been wearing old-school big shinguards. Pulling his sock down, there was nothing to see except his shin and the enormous gash that had opened up on its surface.

Contesting for the ball with Fortuna Sittard defender Justin Hubner, Holtby got there a fraction late and saw his lower leg connect with the Indonesian defender's studs in what, even with full-size guards, would have been a painful coming together.

However, because of the significant lack of protection afforded by the micro guards, the challenge tore open the skin on the front of Holtby’s legs, an injury which resulted in a five minute delay in the game and Holtby’s immediate substitution.

It was an injury that undoubtedly needed a number of stitches and is one that will keep the attacking midfielder out for a number of weeks at least. But the question is this – why was this injury ever allowed to happen?

The Death of Rules and Regs

It will come as no surprise to many that countless amateur and semi-pro clubs throughout England have banned the use of micro-shinguards in a preemptive attempt to prevent just such an injury as Holtby’s.

Popularised by the likes of Jack Grealish and a host of up-and-coming youngsters, the trend of micro shinpads quickly took flights, with many citing the increased manouverability and a lighter feel as reasons to make the switch away from the larger, more cumbersome models.

Granted, the smaller square on the shin affords a player increased feel and sheds extra weight, but it is at the cost of your own personal safety. There are, of course, in-between models which cover a healthy area of the leg while also affording more breathing room, as it were, but the models rapidly got smaller. Professional footballers, never individuals to miss a trend, of course brought the “new and improved” models, and soon enough half the players on any given Premier League pitch were wearing shin pads no larger than a hotel bar of soap.

Shinpads in 1998 vs. Shinpads now. 😭

The difference is crazy. 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/jgYWS2lVb7

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) January 22, 2026

Though English football hasn’t encountered any high-profile injuries as a direct cause of small shinpads, it was inevitable that one would happen somewhere, and then there would follow the inevitable discussion about why tiny pads were ever allowed in the first place.

Many were calling for Hubner to be shown a red card, but had the challenge occurred to a player with full-size pads, it would have been nothing more than a sore one, a ‘sorry mate’, and a run-it-off situation. Hubner was not to know that Holtby’s shins, and perhaps the referee saw it the same way, as he didn’t wave a card the defender's way.

What Needs to Change?

There is an easy answer to this question – ban them. Get rid of them completely, because the more players that are actually protected, the less time we will spend talking about injuries and scenarios that simply didn’t need to happen.

Player welfare is so important in the modern day, but with all of the discussion around game load and fixture congestion and the resultant mental and physical toll on the players, people seem to have neglected the fact that without proper shin protection, footballers find themselves at much more immediate risk than the effects suffered from overworking.

If they aren’t banned, then at the very least strict regulations surrounding the size and coverage of shin pads must be imposed. It is understandable if players want to wear the slide-on, slide-off guards rather than the full ankle sock, but they must afford some form of protection; otherwise there is a case for players knowingly putting their own welfare at risk.

Fortunately, it seems that in the wake of surgery, Holtby carries no hard feelings towards Hubner, who promptly sent the former Germany international an apology message on social media.

Justin Hubner has apologized to Lewis Holtby. pic.twitter.com/wdv8htJKsx

— FFS (@officialffsnews) April 13, 2026

However, the fact he needed surgery in the first place has to act as a wakeup call for the governing bodies of football. Protect your players, and it starts by being strict around protective gear. There are incredibly specific regulations for face masks and hand/wrist casts, so why is everyone so laissez-faire about shin guards, which are at risk more than any other part of the body throughout the average football game.

If a similar injury were to happen at the World Cup this summer, FIFA would get absolute pelters from the global football fanbase – it needs to be nipped in the bud.