Cech played for Chelsea with two broken shoulders before fracturing skull

Petr Cech has revealed that he spent his second season at Chelsea playing with two broken shoulders, with considerable pain endured prior to suffering a fractured skull in October 2006. It was, however, not always smooth sailing for Cech during his time in west London. A serious threat to his life, not just his career, was posed by an infamous collision with Reading forward Stephen Hunt that left the commanding keeper needing to sport head protection from that point on. “I thought about having surgery during the second season, but I didn’t want to risk missing the World Cup in Germany that summer. I came back fast from that and I was enjoying games and not having pain while training and moving. A few games later, we played Reading!” Cech, who ended his career at Arsenal before returning to Chelsea in a technical advisor post, battled his way back from serious ailments to cement a standing as an all-time great. “Leading to the end of the season and the FA Cup final, it felt like there was no other outcome than us winning it. It was the first FA Cup we won together as a group, and it felt like the right end to the season.” Related: The most bizarre injuries in sport [Grid]