Andros Townsend Recounts Terrifying Pitch Roller Incident in Thailand

Former Premier League player Andros Townsend has spoken about a frightening incident in Thailand where he was struck by a pitch roller during a half-time warm-up. The ex-England international, who joined Thai club PT Prachuap in the summer, was warming up when the vehicle moved towards him.

Footage of the collision circulated on social media, but Townsend later downplayed the event on his Instagram story. However, speaking on Piers Morgan's "Football Uncensored," Townsend admitted the experience was "terrifying" and that he was fortunate to avoid significant harm, sustaining only minor bumps and bruises.

"I didn't see it coming," Townsend stated. "It was at halftime, we were going out to warm up. I saw two rollers on either side of the pitch. I remember thinking to myself, 'I've never seen that before in my career, what are they doing?' But we got called to warm up. Didn't think anything of it. The next I saw him was when I was literally underneath him and thankfully no serious damage."

Townsend described how he was able to alleviate some of the pressure by lifting the roller with his arm as it pinned him, before teammates assisted in lifting it off him. He expressed disbelief when reviewing the footage, noting that his children initially thought it was AI-generated. "It's horrible to watch back and to see what could have been but, like I said, thankfully I was fortunate I did manage to fall onto the floor at the right time, so nothing snapped as the roller went over me. And I'm here today to laugh about and tell the story."

He recalled his teammates' immediate concern, with some calling for a stretcher. Despite the shock and his past injury history, Townsend insisted on continuing his warm-up and subsequently came on as a second-half substitute in the match against Pattani.

Townsend's career has seen him play for numerous clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, and Everton, before his move to Thailand. He previously played for Kanchanaburi Power last season and had a brief stint with Antalyaspor in Turkey. During the World Cup, Townsend also worked as a co-commentator for ITV.