Injured footballer wins £4.3m payout

Updated 10.56 Mon Aug 11 2008

Keywords: ben collett, bad tackle, high court, gary smith, manchester united, middlesbrough, sir alex ferguson

A young footballer has been awarded more than £4.3 million damages over a tackle which ended his career.

Ben Collett, 23, was described by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as an "outstanding" player.

Ben Collett, 23, was described by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as an "outstanding" player

Collett joined United as a nine-year-old and signed youth contracts, becoming part of the club's FA Youth Cup-winning team in 2003.

But, aged 18 and in his first game in the reserves in May 2003, he had his right leg broken in two places in a tackle by Middlesbrough FC's Gary Smith.

Both Smith and the club admitted liability for the "negligent" tackle and the judge's task was to decide on the level of compensation that Collett should receive from Middlesbrough's insurers.

Mrs Justice Swift, sitting in London, announced that when all of the figures were decided, the final sum to be awarded was not likely to be less than £4.5 million when sums for future loss of pension and interest on past loss of earnings are determined at a hearing set for October.

Mrs Justice Swift said she had found that had it not been for the injury, Collett would have been offered, in July 2003, a three-year professional contract with Manchester United.

At a recent hearing in Manchester, Sir Alex said Collett had an "outstanding chance" of becoming a full-time professional if he had not been injured.