Theo Baker forced off on stretcher as horror injury brings Sidemen match to standstill
Theo #Theo
Theo Baker suffered a serious injury that forced him to be carried off on a stretcher during the Sidemen FC charity football match against YouTube All-Stars at the London Stadium. The former Hashtag United footballer turned YouTuber collapsed to the floor in agony after appearing to aggravate a previous injury problem and required assistance to be substituted off the pitch in the exhbition match on Saturday.
The popular YouTube personality, who has over 1.1million subscribers on the video streaming platform, was fancied as one of the better players representing the All-Stars lineup.
But coach Mark Goldbridge had to turn to his bench to replace Baker just 25 minutes into the game when he fell to the ground in agony, holding his hip.
Baker had been lining up a shot on the edge of the box from about 20 yards out but blazed his effort well over the bar. It seems that he landed awkwardly having taken the shot and to the concern of his team-mates, he fell to the ground in a heap.
It comes just months after Baker revealed he had undergone surgery to fix an ongoing issue with his hip. It is said to be Baker’s first game of football since going under the knife.
However, it now appears he has suffered a setback as he was unable to leave the pitch unattended, with medical staff sprinting on to the pitch to come to his aid.
He was replaced in the first half by Goldbridge and as he was carried off the pitch, a large section of the 60,000-strong crowd inside the London Stadium chanted his name.
The Sidemen went into the break 2-1 to the good after goals from Bahenza and Miniminter cancelled out a superb solo strike from Chris MD for YouTube’s XI.
The match, featuring rapper and boxer KSI, famous YouTuber Mr Beast and Manchester-based rapper Aitch, drew a huge crowd at the home of West Ham with over 2.2m streamers watching online.
It was announced the match had raised a whopping £1.9million for charity – smashing the £1.1m total raised last year – with another half of football still to be played.
Unfortunately for Baker, he would take no further part in the game and now faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of his latest hip injury.