Footballer jailed for violent tackle

[Kaizero]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255414/Footballer-jailed-horrific-tackle-left-victim-broken-leg.html

 

A footballer has become the first in the history of the British game to be sent to prison for a horror tackle on an opposition player.

 

Mark Chapman's reckless challenge shattered father-of-two Terry Johnson's leg in two places and ended his chances of ever playing again.

 

The 20-year-old Sunday league player was charged with grievous bodily harm, and today he began a six-month jail term after a judge accused him of meting out 'wanton violence'.

 

While footballers have been sent to prison before for punching opponents or stamping on them, the Football Association confirmed Chapman was the first to be locked up solely for a bad tackle.

 

His 26-year-old victim welcomed the unprecedented sentence. 'It's ruined my life, I will never be able to play football again,' he said.

 

'As far as I'm concerned he deserved what he got - what goes around comes around.'

 

The tackle came seconds before the final whistle in a Rugby and District Sunday league match in Warwickshire, a court heard.

 

Chapman's team, Long Lawford, were losing 3-1 to opponents Wheeltappers, and Mr Johnson, playing left-back, was covering the ball as it went out of play.

 

But to his horror, Chapman, a centre forward who had earlier been criticised by team-mates for a lack of effort, came sliding in with his studs raised and smashed his leg from behind.

 

'All I can really remember was stamping coming up behind me and I then I felt the pain in my leg straight away - it was like being hit by a train,' he said.

 

'I heard a snap and everyone thought it was two shinpads snapping, but it was my leg.'

 

Mr Johnson needed reconstructive surgery and had to have a steel rod inserted to hold the bone pieces together.

 

Surgeons have warned it will take another 18 months to repair the damage, and he will never play football again.

 

'I've also lost two-and-a-half inches of muscle on my calf, it looks like a twig now,' he added.

 

Since the tackle the electrician has been unable to work and struggled to support daughters Ruby, four, Eliza, three, or partner Lydia Adams, 24.

 

Chapman - who had been disciplined a number of times for his behaviour on the pitch, although not for violent conduct - was sent off after the referee decided he had deliberately tried to injure his opponent.

 

Following last October's tackle he was charged with causing GBH, and after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court the judge rejected claims it had not been reckless.

 

Lawrence Watts, defending, drew parallels with a Premiership game last Saturday in which Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey had his leg badly broken by a tackle by a Stoke City defender who is not facing criminal charges.

 

But Judge Robert Orme rejected the suggestion and said it was a totally different situation.

 

'This is a deliberate act, a premeditated act,' he said. 'A football match gives no-one any excuse to carry out wanton violence.'

 

He added that what he branded a 'quite crazy and mad challenge' had to be considered a 'very deliberate criminal act'.

 

Chapman, of Long Lawford, was jailed for six months.

 

Last year Mark Ward, 23, was jailed for four months for common assault after he fractured Jonathan Carroll's ankle in a sliding tackle during a Sunday league game in Middlesbrough, but he had also insulted him and stamped on his leg afterwards.

Arsenal's Ramsey

 

Chapman's lawyer drew parallels with a Premiership game last Saturday in which Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey had his leg badly broken by a tackle (pictured_ by a Stoke City defender who is not facing criminal charges. But Judge Robert Orme said it was a totally different situation

 

Also last year Darren Forwood, 21, was jailed for 28 months after admitting manslaughter of rival player Stephen Ritchie, 43, after killing him with a single punch during a bad-tempered amateur match in West London.

 

Sky Sports pundit Chris Kamara, then a Swindon Town player, was convicted of GBH in 1988 after he caught Shrewsbury Town's Jim Melrose with his elbow but was fined £1,200

 

And in 1995 former Scottish international Duncan Ferguson was jailed for three months for headbutting Raith Rovers' John McStay while playing for Rangers.

 

A spokesman for the Football Association said: 'It's the first time anyone has been sent to prison for a tackle.

 

'There have been two cases where people were sent to prison for other incidents on the pitch, but nothing like this.'

[ElDiablo]

So he gets a year and that joyriding guy gets a suspended 12 months sentance for driving three times over the limit, killing a police dog, injuring two police and putting countless others in danger. Brilliant.

[Dan Gleebals]

Fight kicked off in a saturday game I was playing in.  One of our lads got smacked in the face (broken eye socket and dilocated jaw) - the lad got 2.5 years for doing it (he had previous like).

 

He had been subbed as well.  Mass 22 player brawl proceeded - police and dogs arrived, a mess.  Shit went on for months.  There team got banned from the league indefinately along with all the players.

 

Bet loads of shit like this happens and people get away with it.

[Keefaz]

My dad got his leg broken in his first match for his Sunday league side. Never played again.

[gray]

Waiting for the youtube slowmo

[Keefaz]

My dad got his leg broken in his first match for his Sunday league side. Never played again.

 

Actually, it was his cruciate. Not that it changes anything. Or makes the story interesting.

[Village Idiot]

I quit "serious" football after a guy kicked my foot in a 50:50 tackle and I was sidelined with it broken in a million pieces. It was only supposed to be 3 months, but it never healed well and I still can feel pain from time to time.

[S.S.R.]

I quit "serious" football after a guy kicked my foot in a 50:50 tackle and I was sidelined with it broken in a million pieces. It was only supposed to be 3 months, but it never healed well and I still can feel pain from time to time.

 

Literally a million? Are you made of sand?

[Village Idiot]

 

i stopped counting after 5 and guesstimated.

[Mowen]

 

i stopped counting after 5 and guesstimated.

 

Fucking yanks

 

I play saturday league at the moment, which is supposedly of higher standard than Sunday leagues, and I'm surprised I haven't seen anything kick off properly yet. I think it's partly because my team are a very sound group of lads but it's got close a few times.

 

Having said that I was on the receiving end of a horror tackle 4 weeks ago (still got massive bruising) and my own team were laughing at it, the cunts.

[Village Idiot]

When I was playing at schoolboy level I lived in a depressed industrial neighborhood near Barcelona, which meant that most of the teams we played against were made up by future thugs. We had quite some incidents... Remember how in a game, after we were up at 1-0 at HT after bossing them, the other team just went straight of the dressing room tunnel to the spectators and started fighting them, hilarious.

[La Parka]

I got booted in the face once at schoolboy level and the ref (other school teacher) did fuck all. Also got my leg broken at schoolboy level, I was a keeper, and some cnut stomped on my leg after I rushed out to gather a long ball. Twat.

[Village Idiot]

I got booted in the face once at schoolboy level and the ref (other school teacher) did f*** all. Also got my leg broken at schoolboy level, I was a keeper, and some cnut stomped on my leg after I rushed out to gather a long ball. t***.

 

I was a keeper too. That tackle I refered above was me rushing out of the box to kick out a long ball from the opposition. I got an insane amount of similar injuries at schoolboy level. Once an opposition forward stomped on my hand after palming a ball away from his feet and broke 3 fingers, another broke my nose after "heading" my head after I collected a cross... jesus christ why didn't I chose to be a midfielder.

 

Bah, who am I lying, I loved being a goalie.

[La Parka]

It was fun, keeper was very physical. Used to love being center of attention when you pull off a save. Think you get a lot of niggly injuries though, spent most of my youth diving at peoples feet! Lol!

[SEMTEX]

As a keeper, you've got to be bigger and scarier than anyone that could potentially pancake you. Make the striker scared and they'll think twice and fuckup.

 

Or at least that's what you need to do against me.

[Village Idiot]

I was actually quite a bastard as a keeper. I'm quite built (for an average Spaniard at least, we are the shortest and smallest EU nation), and at schoolboy level I was pretty much always the biggest bastard in the pitch. When I dived for a ball, if I secured it I would always let myself go and use my size and momentum to bring the forward down (without fouling since the ball was already mine). My defence was shit and I had to deal with tons of one-on-ones so intimidating forwards was a bit part of my game! Of course it had drawbacks like the aforementioned hand stomping incident 

 

I was the archetypical Spanish keeper: great reflexe saves and one-on-ones, pure shit at crosses and high balls into the box.

[SEMTEX]

I was actually quite a bastard as a keeper. I'm quite built (for an average Spaniard at least, we are the shortest and smallest EU nation), and at schoolboy level I was pretty much always the biggest bastard in the pitch. When I dived for a ball, if I secured it I would always let myself go and use my size and momentum to bring the forward down (without fouling since the ball was already mine). My defence was shit and I had to deal with tons of one-on-ones so intimidating forwards was a bit part of my game! Of course it had drawbacks like the aforementioned hand stomping incident 

 

I was the archetypical Spanish keeper: great reflexe saves and one-on-ones, pure shit at crosses and high balls into the box.

 

A real Spanish keeper would be at least 45 yards off his line when his team is in possession of the ball.

[Raconteur]

A story does make one stop and think - I can think of two particular cases during my "playing" days when I was guilty of tackles that might be described as wanton.

 

One in particular saw a striker say "I teach you something" before going around me like I was a training cone. I spun around and scythed him down - it was purely retaliatory violence. At the time I felt great about it (the cunt wasn't laughing as they carried him off) but having read a story like the one above I do feel some guilt, "That could so easily have been me"...

[Village Idiot]

I was actually quite a b****** as a keeper. I'm quite built (for an average Spaniard at least, we are the shortest and smallest EU nation), and at schoolboy level I was pretty much always the biggest b****** in the pitch. When I dived for a ball, if I secured it I would always let myself go and use my size and momentum to bring the forward down (without fouling since the ball was already mine). My defence was s*** and I had to deal with tons of one-on-ones so intimidating forwards was a bit part of my game! Of course it had drawbacks like the aforementioned hand stomping incident 

 

I was the archetypical Spanish keeper: great reflexe saves and one-on-ones, pure s*** at crosses and high balls into the box.

 

A real Spanish keeper would be at least 45 yards off his line when his team is in possession of the ball.

 

I was quite atypical on that regard, only left the box at half time and that only after some convincing by my teammates.

[La Parka]

I'm a big bastard too so my experiences are similar to village idiots, can't beat winning a 1 v 1 then sending the striker flying as you follow through upon stealing the ball. I was no angel either, I punched a striker who spent the whole match winding me up! Haha!

[PRL]

 

i stopped counting after 5 and guesstimated.

 

Fucking yanks

 

I play saturday league at the moment, which is supposedly of higher standard than Sunday leagues, and I'm surprised I haven't seen anything kick off properly yet. I think it's partly because my team are a very sound group of lads but it's got close a few times.

 

Having said that I was on the receiving end of a horror tackle 4 weeks ago (still got massive bruising) and my own team were laughing at it, the cunts.

 

My experience of playing Saturday league was the standard is way higher but a lot of the teams tend to be full of cunts. Sunday League there is far more risk of an injury as players are slower, fatter, hungover and more inclined to Shawcross you. But they're generally a good bunch off the pitch. With the Saturday league team i played for i saw people getting offered out in the car park with bats and the likes. Half the team I played for were recently out of prison and clearly had nothing other than football in their lives and just weren't good enough to make it professionally. I played for the last 10 games of the season and did not go back. I too was / am a keeper. Appear to be a lot on the board.

[OzzieMandias]

we are the shortest and smallest EU nation

 

And the loudest. Apparently.

[Guest diddimz]

Any chance of continuing to play at a decent level was pretty much fucked for me after a fella came in two footed on my knee, 5 minutes after I had wrapped up a hattrick he ended the game for me. In my youth and lack of patience I didn't give the right amount of rest required and so am still left with a limp from it unfortunately.

[Cajun]

Most of my injuries were self inflicted (well at least not other players being involved) but one of my last was from centre back partner. I had the ball and for some reason he went to boot it up the field but caught my foot and I did my ankle ligaments.

 

No-one really knew what the hell had gone on/what he was trying to do because there wasn't much pressure around us. He was a good little player too.

 

Anyone my manager loved me and would keep me on the pitch no matter what so tried to get me to play up front for the rest of the game  I couldn't even stand on it let alone walk or run 

 

I was a proper Dyer though, always picking up knocks and the like. I was always really aggressive (in a fair way) so that probably explains a lot of the injuries. I just loved being the "hero" and diving in for crunching tackles. Poor mans Steven Taylor 

[Gash]

I'm a big bastard too so my experiences are similar to village idiots, can't beat winning a 1 v 1 then sending the striker flying as you follow through upon stealing the ball. I was no angel either, I punched a striker who spent the whole match winding me up! Haha!

My theory is if you give people so much hassle when they come near you on the pitch whether it be an over the top shoulder barge or a little kick they wont come near you in future and try to go a different way to score. Meaning on Monday at 5-a-side we only conceded 2 whilst i was on the pitch.