1- Event:
Kaiserslautern
and West German forward Klaus Toppmöller being involved in a car accident in
June 1976
Consequence:
As
a result of the accident, he had amnesia for two days. He lost the opportunity
to represent West Germany during the 1976 UEFA European Championships that was
to take place that month.
 |
Photo
From: Fussball Magazin, September october 1977
(Klaus
Toppmöller and Pirri, May 22, 1976, European Championship, West Germany 2-Spain
0)
|
2- Event:
Italy
and AC Milan midfielder Roberto Donadoni signing with Lotto in January 1991.
Consequence:
Donadoni
was already contracted with Diadora. There was a clause in his contract that
made reneweing priority, which he did not respect.
Diadora
sued and two years later in March 1993,
the Tribunal of Treviso made the following ruling:
Donadoni
was forced to wear Diadora for 2 more years and 3 months and pay damages for
not respecting the contract.
 |
Photo
From: 100 Anni del Campionato del Calcio
(AC
Milan’s Roberto Donadoni)
|
3- Event:
England’s
Roy McFarland’s foul on Polish Captain Włodzimierz Lubański on June 6th,
1973 (World cup Qualifier, Poland 2-England 0).
Consequence:
Włodzimierz
Lubański was the star of the Poland squad that had won the Previous year’s
Olympic title. The injury forced him out of Football for nearly two years. As a
result he missed the chance to participate in the 1974 World Cup that Poland
finished third.
Years
later in his autobiography, he stated that McFarland’s foul was not entirely
responsible for the severity of his injury, he was in fact already carrying an
injury that had not sufficiently healed.
 |
Photo
From: Foot Magazine, Issue 17, October
1982
(Włodzimierz
Lubański )
|
4- Event:
France’s
Gilbert Gress refusing to get a hair cut in 1966.
Consequence:
Future
Great manager Gilbert Gress was ordered by France Manager Henri Guerin to get a
haircut in order to be called up for the national Team.
Gress
refused and as a result Guerin did not select him for the 1966 France World Cup
squad.
 |
Photo
from: Les Bleus Author Denis Chaumier, 2004
(Gilbert
Gress)
|
5- Event:
Tottenham
Hotspur and Republic of Ireland’s James Paul Holmes’ injury vs. Bulgaria in
Sofia (EC Qualifier, May 19, 1979, Bulgaria 1-Republic of Ireland 0).
Consequence:
James
Paul Holmes was harshly tackled by Ivan Iliev, as a result his leg was broken.
He was taken to a Bulgarian Hospital where the plaster was cast on too tight.
He was in so much pain on the return flight, that they were forced to land in
Geneva to replace the plaster.
He endured
many more operations and was out of the game for nearly a year. Although he
managed to earn one more cap for Ireland in 1981, the injury in Sofia
effectively ended his career.
