The danger faced by goalkeepers has been brought into sharp focus this week after Spurs stopper Hugo Lloris remained on the pitch after being knocked unconscious after a collision with Everton striker Romelu Lukaku at Goodison.
And older Town fans might remember Terry Poole, that popular member of the 1969-70 Second Division title-winning team, playing on for 30 minutes with a broken right leg during a Third Division (League I) game against Preston at Leeds Road in January 1975.
It was the second time Poole had broken the leg, his first misfortune coming during an FA Cup third-round replay against today’s visitors Birmingham at St Andrews back in January 1971. when the former Manchester United player was being linked with an England call-up.
It was to be 22 months before he reappeared in the first team, by which time Town had been relegated from the top flight to Division II. In 1973, they dropped into Division III for the first time in their illustrious history, and by the time they hosted Preston, they looked destined for the Fourth.
Preston, who had twice played Town in FA Cup finals, won 1-0 courtesy of a trademark strike by old master Bobby Charlton, their player-manager, and went fourth while Town, bossed by tough Scot Bobby Collins, were three points off the bottom after a 15th defeat in 27 matches.
And the loss of 25-year-old Poole, whose leg was broken an inch and a quarter away from the first fracture as he slid out to challenge oncoming North End striker Mike Elwiss in the 15th minute, was a further setback.
At first, Poole didn’t realise the injury was that serious. He soldiered on for the remainder of the first half, but having been helped off at the break by physio Brian Hustler and substitute Terry Gray, failed to reappear.
The 7,654 crowd didn’t realise it, but while midfielder Terry Dolan was pulling on the green jersey, Poole was on his way to hospital, later saying: “The doctors say that after breaking a bone, it grows back stronger than before. At this rate, I’m going to have the best right leg in football.
On the incident itself, Poole recalled: “Mike Elwiss was coming through strongly, and I just went down to cover. There was a clatter of legs, and the right one just felt numb. I had shin pads on and I thought I must have trapped a nerve.”
While Poole’s injury was bad enough, a number of goalkeepers have tragically died as a result of injuries sustained while playing, including former Town player and Olympic gold medalist Ron Brebner.
A fully qualified dentist, Brebner featured 23 times for Town during the 1911-12 season, after which he was a member of the England side at the Stockholm Olympics.
He also played for Glasgow Rangers, Sunderland, QPR, Chelsea and Leicester, and while playing for the East Midlands side against Lincoln in January 1914, he was carried off with a head injury believed to have contributed significantly to his death at 33 the following November.
