Ashfords Solicitors - How can a young footballer receive £4 million for an injury on the pitch?

Ben Collett was only 18 when in 2003 he made his debut for Man Utd's reserve team against Middlesbrough. He was the victim of a high 'over the ball' tackle from opponent Gary Smith, which broke his leg in two places and left him unable to pursue his footballing career.

Much of the publicity surrounding the case has centred around the huge amount of compensation awarded. So why could Mr Collett receive damages at all and why was his award for so much?

Why was he entitled to receive damages?

Generally speaking, if you play a game or sport you are said to accept the risk of being injured during the normal course of the game and you cannot claim damages from anyone as a result of suffering an injury playing the game. This legal principal is known as volenti non fit injuria.

This principal only applies, however, to injuries which occur in the ordinary course of the game or sport; it does not apply to injuries caused by unfair acts or foul play which amounts to negligence.

The tackle causing Mr Collett's injuries was against the rules of the game because the point of impact was above the height of the football. In short, he played the man and not the ball. Mr Collett had not consented to the risk of being injured in this way. As a result Mr Collett was able to bring his claim for damages action against Gary Smith and his employer Middlesbrough Football Club for the injuries sustained.

Why did he receive such a large amount?

No two cases are the same and the court will look at the individual circumstances of each case before making an award of damages.

Damages for personal injury are awarded for special damages and general damages.

Special damages

Special damages are quantifiable losses that the claimant has incurred up to the date of the trial or settlement such as lost earnings and medical expenses. This simply requires an examination of all the losses that the claimant has actually suffered. In the case of Mr Collett, this was calculated to be £456,095 and covered his lost earnings as a professional footballer.

General damages

General damages are damages for pain, suffering and loss amenity but also future losses such as future loss of earnings. Of the general damages award only £35,000 was awarded to Mr Collett for pain and suffering. The vast majority of the award was to compensate Mr Collett for the earnings he would probably have received had he pursued a successful career as a professional footballer less an allowance for contingencies and the fact that he will still be able to earn a living in another job or profession. The problem, of course, is that not many jobs pay as well as a Premier League footballer.

It was accepted in court that Mr Collett had a promising career as a footballer in front of him. In fact it was suggested that he could have earned more than £16 million had he continued to play until he was 35. However, general damages are always reduced to take into account what is known as the 'contingencies of life'. Because Mr Collett was at the beginning of his professional sporting career, it is impossible to tell how he would have progressed. Despite the fact that he was on the Man Utd reserve team, it was never certain that he would have progressed onto playing in the Premier League. Deductions therefore had to be made to account for this. Deductions were also made to account for the 'acceleration effect' that would occur as a result of the interest received from a lump sum. The end result in Mr Collett's case was an award of £3,854,328 for future loss of earnings.

It could well be argued therefore that Mr Collett has been short-changed by receiving £4 million - even though he never played a game for the Man Utd first team!

Ashfords is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The information in this article is intended to be general information about English law only and not comprehensive. It is not to be relied on as legal advice nor as an alternative to taking professional advice relating to specific circumstances.

15th August 2008

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How can a young footballer receive £4 million for an injury on the pitch?

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