I don’t want to crock about it!
Ankle surgery for Sir Rod after tackle from his lad
HE is well known for his love of the beautiful game.
But Sir Rod Stewart has revealed he had to have ankle surgery after being tackled by one of his sons while playing football.
The rocker said his 15-year-old boy Alastair injured him during a kickabout – and has put an end to his dad’s footballing days.
Sir Rod, 76, went under the knife in a bid to repair the ankle last October, just months after he also had knee surgery.
Last week, he appeared on television still using crutches, and his wife Penny Lancaster said the injury was taking longer than expected to heal.
Now Celtic fanatic Sir Rod, who has a five-a-side pitch, trampoline, skate ramp and pool at his £4.7million home in Essex, has told how his son left him injured.
He told People magazine: ‘I have a bad ankle injury which I suffered from being tackled by my 15-year-old son. My football days are over, although I can still kick a ball when needed.’
Last week, Sir Rod gatecrashed a live interview with Miss Lancaster on Lorraine Kelly’s ITV chat show. Asked why he was on crutches, Penny, 50, said: ‘Yeah, he’s had ankle surgery. He had knee surgery which was fantastic, he got over that pretty quickly.
‘The ankle surgery is taking a little bit longer but he’ll be back.
‘He’s got a whole new album that will be out soon when he gets to tour, which he can’t wait to do.’
Sir Rod has previously told how he believes his knee injury was caused by years of playing on dry football pitches in Los Angeles.
He said: ‘First of all it was my knee as I played football all my life. I am suffering for it now.
‘My knee got fixed with a replacement and then the ankle did not
‘I should have a nice straight leg’
know what was going on. It was crooked. So I have had to have an ankle fusion. When this is all done I should have a nice straight leg and I should be able to run.
‘My leg has been caused by playing on awful pitches in Los Angeles. They are bone dry.’
Before the lockdown, Sir Rod had returned to performing and was preparing for a gruelling touring schedule.
He plans to hit the road with several shows in the US this summer, followed by an Australian tour in March and April 2022.
The singer has eight children in total, including Alastair and Aiden with Miss Lancaster.
After years of renovations, his home now boasts ten bedrooms and sits on a sprawling 46 acres of land. Durrington House, near Harlow, also has four self-contained cottages, a walled garden, croquet lawn, pavilion and clock tower.
Sir Rod was given planning permission for the pool in 2017 after Alastair showed a keen interest in swimming.
In 2016, Celtic fan Sir Rod was granted permission to build the football pitch but his request to have it floodlit was denied on the grounds that it could cause light pollution. There is also a large ornamental lake at the front of the property and a pond in the walled garden at the rear.
Sir Rod joined Brentford FC in London at 16 as an apprentice, hoping to become a professional.
However, the club ultimately rejected him.
His father, Scottish master builder Robert Stewart, who had also been a promising footballer, was disappointed when his son did not continue in the game at Brentford. In his memoir Sir Rod wrote: ‘There was great excitement once when Brentford Football Club called me in for a trial.
‘I can only imagine Dad had a lot invested in my Brentford trial – more than I did, in truth. I suspect he allowed himself to believe the big time was about to beckon me.
‘And when it didn’t, and the phone stayed silent, I also suspect it crushed him far harder than it did me.’