Which footballers have had the worst luck with injuries?

Is sport only about skill, or does it also involve strong elements of luck too? When looking at the careers of certain footballers, it’s easy to appreciate how hard they must have worked to become such established athletes – however, you also have to consider whether they were naturally quite fortunate as well.

This is especially relevant when you look at footballers who seem to have suddenly experienced a run of bad luck, causing them to lose a lot of standing within their team or league. Unfortunately, this bad luck typically comes in the form of an injury.

Fernando Redondo

This Argentinean midfielder made quite a name for himself after playing for Real Madrid, winning the 1998 and 2000 Champions League with the team. It looked like he was tipped for big things, until he was sold to AC Milan in 2000 for £11m.

Unfortunately for Fernando, he injured his knee after three minutes in his first ever training session for the team. This was so bad that he had to take over two years out of the game – and when he returned, he was only able to play another 16 games before a subsequent knee injury forced him into retirement.

It definitely goes to show how a footballer’s career can all be changed in a single moment, which is often the case with injuries.

Dean Ashton

Dean was a rising star in the sport, being bought by Norwich for a club-record of £3m in 2005. They made good on his investment after he was sold to West Ham in 2006 for a hefty £7m – and a short six months later, he was asked to join the England squad.

However, bad luck was to strike while he was training with the national team. He broke his ankle during practice and was forced to miss the entire next season. Afterwards he only managed five more games for West Ham, before announcing his retirement from the game entirely at the end of 2009.

Unfortunately it seems some people just attract bad luck – but that doesn’t mean you do, too. The Health Lottery supports loads of great causes, and is a fantastic way to contribute to deserving charities while putting you in the running for a huge reward.