By Chris Wright
Hard to believe it was almost a decade ago, but in 2006 the course of Alan Smith’s football career changed forever when he suffered a truly shocking injury while playing for Manchester United against Liverpool in a fairly hostile FA Cup tie at Anfield.
A characteristically powerful shot from John-Arne Riise left Smith crumpled in a heap on the ground having suffered a simultaneous broken leg and dislocated ankle.
As if the horror of the injury itself wasn’t bad enough, it was later reported that the ambulance transporting Smith to hospital was attacked by a group of Liverpool fans as it queued in traffic.
The reports sparked a wave of revulsion among the wider football community.
Speaking in a candid interview with FourFourTwo this week, Smith has categorically denied the rumours of his ambulance being attacked and also defended the Liverpool fans who were demonised in the aftermath of the game.
“It didn’t happen – fans were still in the ground. I went back to Liverpool a few years later with Newcastle and had a great reception.
“I had loads of mail from fans after the injury, including a lot from Liverpool.”
Smith said much the same thing in a similar interview with the Daily Mail in 2006, again rejecting the claims that fans had attempted to disrupt his trip to A&E – denouncing the tittle-tattle as “so untrue”.
However, according to the Guardian’s post-match report, “bottles, beer glasses and stones” were hurled at the ambulance with witnesses also claiming that the stationary vehicle was being “rocked as some Liverpool fans tried to overturn it”.
The Merseyside ambulance trust themselves also subsequently confirmed the reports to be true.
“It did not result in any delay in transferring the player to hospital,” their statement read.
“But the trust cannot condone this type of behaviour while administering emergency treatment.”
On top of all that, both Manchester United and Liverpool released a joint statement condemning the behaviour of the “few idiot” Liverpool fans in question.
Now, while we’re loathe to dispute Smith’s version of events, there is one passage in the aforementioned Guardian report that can provide an insight into the confusion.
“Smith had been given a general anaesthetic inside the stadium and therefore did not know what had happened until he came round.”
Ah, so he was completely doped up to his eyeballs at the time? That might explain the vast discrepancy between the two polar-opposite version of events we have been presented with here.
Of course, we’re not talking about all Liverpool fans here. Once again, it’s the moronic minority causing all the grief.
In fact, Smith is positively gushing about the well-wishes he received from Reds supporters during his eight-month rehabilitation.
“I had loads of mail from fans after the injury, including a lot from Liverpool. And Liverpool’s medical staff were great.”
Perhaps that’s the line we should sign off on.
When it comes to the football bubble, it’s important to remind yourself that there are still an awful lot of good people out there.