Crocked Kolts are UK's most injury-hit footballers

A CITY football team has topped the league table in an NHS competition to find the most injury-hit outfit in the country.

Plymouth Kolts under-14s team suffered a shocking 20 injuries in one season, including broken legs, a hernia and sprained ankles.

Left-back Jordi Barton was one of the players who needed NHS support after suffering a terrible break to his leg.

He said: "I've got a metal plate in my leg.

"I went to volley a ball and I completely missed it and my leg just went in the air and just snapped."

Other injuries suffered by the team included a pulled groin, Achilles tendonitis, a bruised metatarsal, dislocated ankle, anteria cruciate ligament tear, sprained wrist, broken thumb and a broken toe.

Winger Brennan Moore suffered a fractured tibia and a dislocated ankle, while a cut to the hand of goalkeeper Ryan Rickard required seven stitches.

Jonathan Garnett-Smith, who managed the Kolts U14s in the gruelling 2007-08 season when the injuries occurred, said: "It wasn't just that we had a lot of injuries; it was the scale of them.

"We had serious injuries. I've never seen anything like it.

"It was a really surreal season, because we still went on to win the Devon Cup.

"As a squad they must have had some resilience, because they just got on with the job. I don't think adults would be able to do that, but kids have it in them. They're not pessimists until they grow up."

Mr Garnett-Smith said all the youngsters had made good recoveries and were now playing football again.

The Kolts won the Step Into the NHS competition and claimed the prize of new football kit for the team.

Unlike Premiership players, the team relied on NHS staff in a wide range of job to aid them in their recovery.

Plymouth Kolts players and coaching staff also visited Plymouth Argyle last week and met some of the players and medical staff.

Step Into the NHS is managed by NHS Careers and aims to raise awareness among teenagers of 350 different career paths in the health service.

Alan Simmons, a careers consultant for NHS Careers, said: "Many young people believe that to work in the NHS you have to be a doctor or nurse.

"By linking football injuries to the jobs in the NHS that helped in their recovery, our aim is to make young people better aware of the range of career opportunities.

"Careers such as physiotherapy, radiography, podiatry and psychology can all play a major role in getting players off the treatment table and back on the field."