Horrifying moment Andros Townsend is run over by pitch roller before Thai football match | Football

Ex-England and Tottenham footballer Andros Townsend somehow escaped without serious injury after being run over by a pitch roller in a horrifying moment in Thai football.

Townsend joined Thai outfit PT Prachuap from Kanchanaburi Power just last month and was preparing for the side’s top-flight match with Pattani on Saturday when the incident occurred.

The 35-year-old, who won 13 caps for the Three Lions, was warming up with his team-mates at the time and appeared oblivious to the slow-moving vehicle heading approaching him from the touchline at Pattani Province Stadium.

There was a look of sheer horror on the faces of those Prachuap players in the vicinity, with Townsend’s left leg caught awkwardly between the giant roller and the turf.

The driver in question immediately leaped from his seat and screams can be heard in the audio of the footage, before Townsend was somehow able to get back to his feet and hobble away from the scene.

Incredibly, the veteran winger went on to feature in the match, coming off the bench for off the bench to replace Jesper Nyholm in stoppage time to help the visiting Prachuap emerge with a 3-0 victory.

Townsend was even able to see the funny side in the aftermath of Prachuap’s win, taking to Instagram to laugh off the episode while seemingly confirming that he was unhurt.

Re-sharing one of his previous posts entitled ‘WTF is Stoke away?’, Townsend wrote: ‘Turns out Stoke away wasn’t so bad after all [laughing emoji].’

He then reposted a video of the incident overlaid with the caption: ‘Just another day in Thai football [laughing emoji] (He was fine!)’.

Townsend will no doubt want to stay well away from any pitch rollers ahead of Prachuap’s next Thai Premier League clash with Chiangrai United.

Prachuap’s win this weekend saw the club move level on points at the top of the table alongside Uthai Thani, Rayong, Port FC and Ayutthaya United after three games.

Explaining his surprise move to Thailand back in 2025, Townsend told talkSPORT: ‘Towards the back end of last season I was playing in Turkey and I hadn’t been paid a few month’s salary.

‘The club said to me, “You can take your salary – but you’re never going to play for the club again”, so I took the salary.

‘I hadn’t played since March, got a bit frustrated, so in the summer I said to my agent that I didn’t care where I go, just take me somewhere nice, interesting and tropical. 

‘He came back with one or two options in Europe but for some reason my gut was just really interested about the option in Thailand.’

Townsend is perhaps best remembered for his time with Tottenham, where he rose through the ranks as an academy prospect to become a first-team star – making 93 appearances in all competitions for the north London giants.

As well as a series of loan spells, the forward also represented Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Everton and Luton Town before moving to Turkey to sign for Antalyaspor in 2024.

He has regularly worked as a pundit and co-commentator for ITV Sport, covering the 2022 World Cup, Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup this summer.

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