“Away at Stoke wasn’t all that bad”: Former England international jokes after bizarre accident

When he moved to Thailand, the former Everton, Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur pro and 13-cap England international surely pictured early football retirement as something far less dangerous.

On Saturday, the 35-year-old was warming up before his club PT Prachuap's match in Pattani when the driver of a road roller lost control. Townsend ended up under the heavy roller, and the driver stopped only when the player's legs were trapped.

Footage that has since spread online shows Townsend trying to push the roller off himself. The driver then quickly jumps out and helps the pro, who later wrote about the incident on social media with British humour.

"Away at Stoke wasn't that bad after all. Swipe on to see why," Townsend wrote on Instagram. The winger was referring to a post he had recently made in which he compared away games in sunny Thailand with unpleasant trips to Stoke.

What does Stoke City actually have to do with Lionel Messi?

For years, Stoke City have served as a metaphor for the ultimate unpleasant opponent in English football. That dates back to 2010, when TV commentator Andy Gray asked whether Lionel Messi could also produce such a brilliant display on a "cold, rainy evening in Stoke" as he usually did back then.

Back then, Stoke City under manager Tony Pulis played an incredibly tough, physically uncompromising brand of football and made life difficult for many technically better teams, especially at their own stadium.

As for Townsend, he came through the accident completely unscathed and still came on as a late substitute in a 3-0 win.

Click here to read article