Injured player is flown to hospital

Feb 25 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

A NON-league football match was abandoned at the weekend after the Northumbria Air Ambulance landed on the pitch to fly a badly injured young player to hospital.

Brandon United midfielder Chris English, 20, lost several teeth and suffered a broken nose and a cut near the eye when he was knocked unconscious in a horrific accidental clash of heads with Ryton FC’s Gary Forbes 17 minutes into the Arngrove Northern League division two match on Saturday.

The impact of the collision could be clearly heard by shocked spectators all around Ryton’s Kingsley Park ground at Crawcrook, and there were fears that Chris had suffered potentially serious neck injuries.

Paramedics stabilised him as he lay on the pitch and fitted him with a neck brace, before medical staff on board the air ambulance assessed his condition as he was flown to Newcastle General Hospital.

Thankfully Chris, a student from Tow Law, County Durham, who came up through Brandon United’s youth system, didn’t suffer any major neck injury and was allowed home from hospital on Saturday night after treatment.

Gary Forbes, himself a former Brandon player, was also hurt in the collision but was able to get up and walk away after treatment on the field. The sickening incident held up play for more than 30 minutes and Carlisle referee Kevin Mulraine decided to abandon the game, with the score at 0-0.

One spectator at the game said: “It looked to me a complete accident, two determined footballers went up in a full-blooded but straightforward challenge for an awkwardly-flighted ball, but above the wind you could hear the sound of a horrible impact.

“You knew straight away it was serious. No one was calling for a foul, everyone was just concerned for the two players, but it was soon clear who was most badly hurt. The Ryton player got up after treatment but the Brandon lad didn’t, and showed no sign of doing so.”

Yesterday Brandon United chairman Bill Fisher said: “Chris came out of hospital last night. This was a clash of heads and a very nasty accident, because he got it full in the lower part of the face from the nose downwards.

“Gary Forbes used to play for Brandon about 15 years ago and is a nice lad who wouldn’t do anything malicious. I believe the wind played a part in what happened because the ball was hanging in the air and Chris was underneath it.

“He has lost three teeth and broken his nose as well as suffering a cut near his eye. He lost quite a bit of blood, can’t remember anything about the game and won’t be looking or feeling too good today.

“The paramedics were quite worried about his neck for a while but the doctors in the air ambulance were able to assess him and satisfy themselves there was no serious damage. The players must have been off the field for at least 30 minutes and there were no arguments when the referee decided to abandon the game.”