3 Footballers who suffer from aviophobia
The tragic death of Leicester City owner and chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in a helicopter crash tragedy at the King Power Stadium has left the footballing world in a state of shock and disbelief.
The Thai businessman, who owned the duty-free retail giant King Power bought Leicester City for $57 million in 2010. Under his ownership, the club achieved the unthinkable feat of winning the Premier League title in the 2015-16 season.
However, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s death is not the first time that football has lost lives in aviation disasters.
In 1958, Manchester United was hit by tragedy when a flight carrying their team crashed on a runway in Munich. United lost eight players among 23 fatalities. In 1993, the entire Zambia national team was wiped out after their plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff and in recent times, Chapecoense disaster is probably one of the biggest sporting tragedies that has hit the footballing world.
Flying can be a terrifying activity for many people and there few famous, high-achieving footballers in the modern game who suffered aviophobia or fear of flying.
Let’s have a look at them.
#1 Paul Merson
Merson during his glittering career with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, and Portsmouth made more than 600 appearances, scoring 126 goals. Perhaps, the best years of his footballing career was at Arsenal where he spent 13 seasons winning five trophies.
Merson’s problem with alcohol, drugs, and gambling may be well-documented but few know about his pathological fear of flying. Merson would often take trains to away games.
An extract from Paul Merson’s book, How Not To Be A Professional Footballer “Glenn could see I was bricking it and turned round to me as I sat there, gripping the armrests.
"You all right?" he said.
"I hate flying, Boss. I'm s***ting myself."
"Don't worry, Merse. It's going to be OK. We *won't* crash."
I thought, "Thank God for that. Glenn's said we're going to be safe. Nothing's going to F*** with us now.”