Andros Townsend has joked that playing Stoke away “wasn’t so bad after all” after a bizarre incident in Thailand in which he was run over by a pitch roller.
The 35-year-old former England winger was warming up before a match at Pattani on Saturday when a member of staff appeared to lose control of a heavy pitch roller. Townsend’s left leg briefly got stuck under the vehicle, but he was unhurt.
The scare did not keep him out of the game for long. Townsend, who plays for PT Prachuap in Thai League 1, came off the bench late on as his side won 3-0.
He later made light of the incident on Instagram, referencing one of his recent posts in which he compared a sun-drenched Thai away trip with previous visits to Stoke’s Bet365 Stadium. He wrote: “It turns out Stoke away wasn’t so bad after all. Swipe to see why.”
Townsend, who won 13 caps for England, spent much of his career in the Premier League with the likes of Tottenham, Luton and Crystal Palace. He moved to Thailand in 2025 when he joined Kanchanaburi Power.