Man United Player Awarded Damages

A former Manchester United player has been awarded more than £4.3 million damages for a tackle that ended his career.

Ben Collett, 23, who Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson called an "outstanding" player, broke his leg in a reserve game against Middlesbrough, in 2003.

Middlesbrough Football Club's Gary Smith and the club admitted liability for the "negligent" tackle and the court's task was to decide on the level of compensation that Collett should received from Middlesbrough's insurers.

It is understood the compensation to be received by the 23-year-old will be even greater 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, sitting at London's High Court, said the final sum payable to Collett was "unlikely to be less than £4.5 million".

The judge said had it not been for the injury, Collett would have been offered a three-year professional contract with Manchester United.

The match against Middlesbrough had been Collett's debut for United's reserve team, at the age of 18.

Collett joined United's youth academy at nine years old and signed youth contracts before becoming part of the club's FA Youth Cup-winning team in 2003.

However, his right leg was broken in two places in the match in May 2003, ending his career in professional football.

(DS)