Highlights

• Alan Smith suffered horrendous leg injury during FA Cup tie against Liverpool at Anfield in 2006.
• The former Manchester United star still struggles with walking due to having ten pins in his ankle.
• Sir Alex Ferguson described the injury as one of the worst he'd ever seen.

Former Manchester United forward Alan Smith is reportedly still struggling with the after effects of the horrendous injury he suffered while playing against Liverpool in 2006.

The retired striker, who came through the ranks at Leeds United and proudly represented the club before they were relegated in 2004, sustained an awful broken leg and dislocated ankle while defending a John Arne Riise free-kick in the closing stages of an FA Cup firth-round tie at Anfield.

Riise fancied his chances from 40 yards but his powerful left-footed strike was bravely charged down by Smith, whose United teammates knew something was badly wrong. Edwin van der Sar and Gary Neville immediately called for United’s medical staff to rush over and help, while Ruud van Nistelrooy walked away from the scene with his hands over his face.

Manchester United Players' Reaction

Teammates Were Visibly Shocked

"It is a bad one,” Sir Alex Ferguson, who converted Smith into a defensive midfielder, said at the time.

“He has gone to hospital, it looks very long term - it is one of the worst I have seen.”

Considering how long Ferguson had been involved in the game, it soon dawned on everyone that this was a serious situation for Smith. Wes Brown was one of the first players on the scene. The defender said: "He shouted at me straight away. I walked over to him and saw his ankle, so I grabbed hold of his hand. I didn't want him to move just in case something might happen."

Ferguson later added: "The ones who were shocked were Van der Sar and Neville. That's when we knew it was a bad one. The amazing thing about Alan Smith is how philosophical he was about it. He wasn't really shocked himself. He handled it so calmly, we couldn't believe it. I think it's that calmness and his attitude to it that allowed him to have a proper rehabilitation."

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistics: Alan Smith once scored four goals in a UEFA Cup tie against Hapoel Tel Aviv for Leeds United.

Meanwhile, Ryan Giggs said: "Seeing the courage of Smudger, I think there's no doubt that he'll be back soon - and be the Smudger that everyone loves and has come to love at the club."

United beat Wigan Athletic in the League Cup final weeks later and registered an emphatic 4-0 victory at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney (2), Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo. During the trophy celebrations, United's players wore t-shirts printed with the words ‘For you Smudge’ in tribute to their injured teammate.

Smith spent eight months on the sidelines before making a return to action, but left Old Trafford for Newcastle United at the end of the 2006-07 season. He had four years at St. James' Park and helped the north-east outfit earn promotion back to the Premier League in 2010 following the club's relegation to the Championship 12 months earlier.

Smith then joined League One's MK Dons midway through the 2011-12 season after struggling for minutes at Newcastle. He eventually joined MK Dons on a permanent transfer before ending his career in 2018 following a four-year spell with Notts County.

Smith Still 'Struggles to Walk'

Almost 20 Years Later

The former England international revealed he still suffered from the consequences of blocking Riise’s free-kick. Smith has “about 10 pins” in his ankle and hobbles every day he gets out of bed, according to The Sun.

He told The Mirror of his struggles almost two decades on from the incident, saying: “I knew with the injury it would be touch and go whether I could carry on playing – the surgeon said that.

"It would have been easier to walk away and people remember you as a top Premier League player. But I didn’t want that, because I loved playing football. Your love of it makes you go through the pain barrier. Most of people I have played with, and managers, have respected me for staying in football when it would have been easy to walk away.

"But I dropped down to the Championship, dropped down to League One and dropped down to League Two. Loads of people would say to me, ‘Why I am bothering?’ Whether I was earning £500-a-week or nothing, if people felt I could still contributed I wanted to keep playing.

“The injury made me a better person after doing so well so young. I learnt at any time, football can be over. I am lucky through sheer grit and determination I carried on playing."

He added: “The good people I met lower down the leagues probably drove me on to stay in football longer. But by the end, the day-to-day training was doing more harm than good. I couldn’t compete at a level I felt I could easily before.

"I get out of bed and can’t walk properly, my ankle is stiff all the time."

“I went for a run in the summer and managed to do a couple of miles but stopped and started walking because my ankle was hurting. I went back last month and the surgeon said, 'I don’t want you doing any straight-line running', just because it will damage the joint.

“It is always difficult to walk away but when you see someone and they don’t want you running, you know it is the right decision. I have no regrets, for me I see retiring early being the easy option.”

Where Alan Smith is Now

Former Striker is Still Involved in Football

The 43-year-old applied for a US visa so that he could move to Florida and coach youngsters. He serves as the Academy Director of XL Soccer Academy in Orlando, and told reporters: "The go al of The XL Academy is to produce National Team players while giving every student the opportunity to perform to their greatest potential on the field and in the classroom."

The Yorkshireman also took up surfing, spending six hours in the water on his first go until he could stand on the board. It sounds like Smith, despite feeling the effects of that terrible injury, is still making the most of life post-retirement.