TWO junior football clubs in Barnsley have banned their players from wearing a type of small shinpad after a player suffered a broken leg in a pre-season friendly between them.

A 15-year-old, Alfie Collins, broke both his tubular and fibula bones playing for Penistone Church under 16s against near neighbours Dodworth MW in a pre-season game last week.

He had been wearing a type of shinpad similar in size to a credit card, rather than the much bigger traditional shinpads following the example of some professional players.

The injury followed a ‘50/50 challenge’ which was ‘in no way malicious’ according to a Penistone statement, which added that he had removed larger pads at half-time due to the heat.

The club acknowledges that they cannot prove that the smaller shinpads caused the injury, but has now banned them at all age groups, with Dodworth doing the same.

Penistone Church under 16s’ manager Ross Thompson said: “It’s something that has been going on for a while. Everyone had concerns but this a wake-up call for everyone at the club and hopefully further afield.

“We can’t say it was definitely down to those shinpads but, if you see the size of them, they are not offering a great deal of protection. It is to minimise risk.”

Keith Turner, Dodworth vice-chairman and under 16s’ manager, added: “Everyone at Dodworth would like to wish Alfie a speedy recovery, he’s a top player and a credit to his team.

“Secondly, from a club perspective, we fully support Penistone’s decision to ban ‘credit card’ shinpads.

“Dodworth MW have followed in their wise footsteps and hopefully the FA will take further action to avoid awful injuries like Alfie’s in the future.”