Ex-England international Andros Townsend run over by pitch roller, avoids serious injury

Townsend, who plays for Thai League 1 side PT Prachuap, came off the bench in their 3-0 win on Saturday despite the incident

Sep 20, 2026 at 2:25 pm ET • 1 min read

Former England international Andros Townsend was run over by a pitch roller ahead of a Thai League 1 game on Saturday, though he avoided serious injury in the incident.

Townsend was warming up ahead of PT Prachuap's match at Pattani when a slow-moving pitch roller approached him. He tried to push the roller out of the way but his legs were run over before the person operating the machine came out of the driver's seat to help the player.

The 35-year-old escaped with only a cut and bruising on one of his thighs, according to photos taken by local agencies, and he came off the bench in Prachuap's 3-0 win. Townsend also joked about the incident on social media, first reposting a video on his Instagram Stories with the caption, "Just another day in Thai Football (he was fine!)." He then made another joke on his Instagram Stories, writing, "Turns out Stoke away wasn't so bad after all … swipe to see why."

He remained active on social media after the incident, replying to a post that described as the "King of Memes in Thai League history" by writing "trust me" and adding four laughing emojis.

Townsend joined Prachuap last month after one season with fellow Thai side Kanchanaburi Power, who were relegated from the top flight at the end of the previous campaign. Before that, he played for Antalyaspore in Turkiye but spent the bulk of his career in his native England. He was a product of the Tottenham Hotspur academy, earning 13 caps for England during his spell at the club. He left in 2016 for a brief spell at Newcastle United before a move to Crystal Palace, for whom he made 185 appearances across all competitions.