The 35-year-old, now playing for PT Prachuap, was preparing for a game in Pattani when a member of staff appeared to lose control of a heavy roller. Townsend’s left leg became trapped beneath the machine, but he escaped with only bumps and bruises and later came off the bench in a 3-0 win.
Speaking for the first time on Piers Morgan’s Football Uncensored, Townsend said he was fortunate not to suffer serious injury.
“Every time I see it, I’m cringing, I’m in disbelief,” he said. “It’s horrible to watch back and to see what could have been. Thankfully I was fortunate I did manage to fall onto the floor at the right time, so nothing snapped as the roller went over me.”
Townsend, who won 13 caps for England and previously played for Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Luton Town, said he had thought it unusual to see two rollers at the side of the pitch during the warm-up.
“The next I saw him was when I was literally underneath him,” he said. “Thankfully no serious damage. A couple of bumps and bruises but managed to walk away unscathed, luckily.”
He added that the weight of the machine was crushing his left leg until he forced his left arm up to relieve the pressure and teammates helped lift it off him.
“At that moment where it was crushing my left leg, it was quite terrifying, I must say.”
Townsend, who has undergone operations on his left ankle and left knee, feared one of those joints would snap. He recovered within a few minutes and continued the warm-up, surprising teammates who urged him to see a doctor.
The incident will not end his career, he said. On Instagram he joked that a previous comparison between Thai away trips and visits to Stoke City’s Bet365 Stadium now looked different: “It turns out Stoke away wasn’t so bad after all.”
Townsend moved to Thailand in 2025, first joining Kanchanaburi Power before signing for Prachuap. The lucky escape has become one of the more unusual stories of his long career, but he remains determined to carry on playing.