The former England winger currently plays in the Thai league and was involved in a viral incident
Former England international Andros Townsend has joked about the incident in which he was run over by a pitch roller. It happened during a warm-up with clips going viral on social media.
Townsend currently plays for PT Prachuap in the Thai League. He was undergoing preparations for the fixture at Pattani, when a member of the grounds team appeared to lose control of the roller and crash it into the player.
Townsend was momentarily stuck under the roller, but was able to get up without any lasting damage. He later came off the bench in a 3-0 win for his side.
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The 35-year-old has now taken to social media to laugh about the incident. Resharing an earlier post of his on his Instagram story, which read: “WTF is Stoke away with clips of him enjoying life in Thailand, he added: “Turns out Stoke away wasn’t so bad after all (laughing emoji) swipe to see why.”
The next slide is a clip of him being run over by the roller. He has also shared other posts joking about the incident, including being called “the king of memes in Thai League history.” He added: “Trust me” with four laughing emojis.
Townsend joined PT Prachuap last month on a deal that runs until next summer. He made his debut in the 1-0 loss against Rayong FC earlier this month, and has since made two more appearances for the club, including as a late substitute vs Pattani.
The winger spent last season with Thai club Kanchanaburi, where he made 30 appearances, scoring three goals and providing six assists. He has also spent time in Turkey with Antalyaspor.
Explaining his move to Thailand in an interview with TalkSPORT, he said: “Towards the back end of last season, I was playing in Turkey, and I hadn’t been paid a few months’ salary.
“The club said to me ‘you can take your salary – but you’re never going to play for the club again’ so I took the salary.
“I hadn’t played since March, got a bit frustrated, so in the summer I said to Marlon [my agent] I don’t care where I go, just take me somewhere nice, interesting and tropical.
“He came back with one or two options in Europe but for some reason my gut was just really interested about the option in Thailand.”
In England, Townsend played for several different clubs, either on loan or permanent deals. He was given his England debut by Roy Hodgson in 2013 and went on to collect 12 more caps, his last appearance for the Three Lions coming in a 2-2 friendly match with Spain in November 2016.
Over the summer he worked for ITV as a pundit and co-commentator for the World Cup in North America. He gave an insight into the experience with his Instagram followers by sharing daily video diaries.