'I reached out to Aaron Ramsey a couple of times, but he didn’t want to talk to me': Ryan Shawcross addresses Arsenal horror challenge and how it affected him

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Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey had his leg broken in a horror tackle from Ryan Shawcross – now the ex-Stoke man reflects to FourFourTwo

Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal shakes hands with Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross before the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Stoke City at Emirates Stadium on October 22, 2011 in London, England.
(Image credit: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Ryan Shawcross has spoken about Aaron Ramsey and the leg-breaking injury that he caused the Welshman.

In 2010 during a match between Stoke City and Arsenal, Potters captain Shawcross was sent off for a horror tackle which caused a double fracture in Ramsey's lower right leg. The Gunners star Ramsey was hospitalised, his tibia and fibula both broken, returning to football nine months later before two loan spells were arranged to build his fitness back up.

With chants from Stoke fans over the years directed towards Ramsey and his apparent refusal to accept Shawcross's apology, FourFourTwo spoke to the defender to hear his side of the story. 

Stoke's English defender Ryan Shawcross walks from the field after being sent off by referee Peter Walton (not pictured) for a challenge on Arsenal's Welsh player Aaron Ramsey (not pictured) during the English Premier League football match between Stoke City and Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, central midlands, England on February 27, 2010.

Ryan Shawcross was responsible for a horror injury suffered by Ramsey (Image credit: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

"The only thing it really affected was my public persona," Shawcross says.

"It wasn’t me who’d had the horrific injury, so nobody should feel sorry for me, but people like to paint others in a particular way and portray me as a pantomime villain. 

"That’s football, and you can’t choose the narrative of the tabloids. I reached out to Aaron a couple of times, but he didn’t want to talk to me and I had absolutely no problem with that."

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Mark White
Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.

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