I was crying my eyes out and couldn’t bend my leg – I didn’t realise that would be the end of my football career
STUART DALLAS has opened up on the horror moment he realised his professional football career was over.
The ex-Leeds star was left crying in pain after a sickening on-field collision with Man City's Jack Grealish in April 2022.
Dallas clocked up 267 appearances for Leeds and was a two-time Player of the Season at Elland Road.
The 33-year-old was playing full-back for the Whites as they battled relegation from the Premier League two years ago.
He collided with Grealish in a 50-50 tackle which "felt like a car crash."
Dallas suffered a catastrophic femoral fracture, with his anterior cruciate ligament ripped clean off the bone.
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The Northern Irish star told Ben Foster's : "I remember feeling a crunch.
"It was a horrific feeling. From that point I knew I was in big trouble.
"I remember trying to bend my leg. I was a player who didn't usually go down.
"Straight away the doctors could see I was in agony. I was struggling to breathe and so much was going through my head."
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Dallas underwent seven-hour surgery that night, before six more operations over the coming months.
But his football career couldn't be saved, with his retirement officially announced this summer.
Dallas continued: "Andy Williams [knee specialist] said it is the worst injury he’s seen in 30 years."
Foster added: "You can excuse Jack Grealish, he’s not trying to do anything.
"He’s not trying to hurt you. He’s just trying to save himself from injury.
"You’d never in a million years think that much damage could be done."
Grealish got in touch with the Leeds star following the incident and has remained in contact ever since.
Dallas told in April: "[There's] no bitterness.
"Listen, it's part of football. I probably went into that challenge so many times and I've just tried to intercept the ball and then obviously Jack's come across me.
"He contacted me straight away after that, when I was in the hospital, and has been in contact since that.
"There's no bitterness. It's just part of the game and, unfortunately, I came off worse and that's it really, but no bitterness at all."
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Following his retirement, Dallas is targeting a career in management or coaching.
After earning 62 caps for Northern Ireland, he was recently spotted helping out boss Michael O’Neill in a Nations League clash with Luxembourg.