The Liverpool goalkeeper was forced to retire at 26 after a bizarre ironing injury
Liverpool goalkeeper Michael Stensgaard is known to have suffered one of the strangest injuries Anfield have ever seen
On this day in 1994, Liverpool signed goalkeeper Michael Stensgaard from Hvidovre.
Despite not playing under Roy Evans in his two seasons at the club, the Dane will etch his name in Reds folklore for suffering one of the strangest injuries of any Liverpool player, past or present.
When Stensgaard arrived at Anfield from his native Denmark in the summer of 1994, he was initially tasked with acting as an understudy for David James. However, his time on Merseyside was cut short after he dislocated his shoulder using an ironing board within months of arriving.
The injury ultimately kept Stensgaard out of action for the Reds and subsequently caused further problems with his shoulder which led to surgery and ultimately his early retirement from the game, aged just 26. After being sidelined for over a year following the particular injury, Liverpool and Stensgaard mutually agreed to terminate his contract in 1996. He would return to Hvidovre as a reserve.
goalkeeper before joining Copenhagen and Southampton in his later years. Stensgaard, now 48, is a FIFA licensed players agent and also works as a mentor to both athletes and business people.
Stensgaard’s injury was not the last time that Liverpool, and their goalkeeping department in particular, have suffered adversity in bizarre circumstances.
In 2017, as a youngster Caoimhin Kelleher made his name in reserve matches at Melwood, he was briefly sidelined with an insect bite. The extraordinary incident left the then 17-year-old Republic of Ireland international on crutches and out of action for a few days.
Former Under-21 manager Michael Beale quickly allayed fears as the youngster was seen hobbling around Melwood on crutches. It’s weird,” Beale said. “He had something like an abscess on his shin, he had just gotten an infection from a bite. It’s nothing serious, it just put him off for the next few days.
“We thought it would be like a normal bite, unfortunately the flies in Kirkby must be a bit stronger than the rest of the country! He was just reacting to something, nothing serious.
