BEING a football physio means having to deal with plenty of injured players.
But this former Manchester United physio ended up on the sidelines himself.
Jaap Stam performed a wrestling move on an ex-Man Utd physio at Gary Neville’s partyGetty
Thornley has opened up on Stam’s wrestling prowess
That’s after Jaap Stam performed a brutal WWE move on him while at Gary Neville’s house party.
Stam played for United between 1998 and 2001, making 127 appearances while winning a Treble and two further league titles.
The Dutch defender was famous for his no-nonsense reputation.
And he further cemented himself as one of the greatest centre-backs in history with strong spells at Lazio, AC Milan and Ajax.
However, while Stam worked hard, he liked to play hard too.
Former Man United physio Rod Thornley can testify to that, having been ‘suplexed’ by Stam while at a house party hosted by team-mate Neville.
Stam picked up Thornley during the bash and began performing a wrestling move on him, leaving onlookers speechless.
Thornley told Undr the Cosh: “I think if you cross the wrong people in that dressing room you were gone very quickly.
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“I mean look at Jaap Stam. That’s a big example of it. He said some bad things about the Nevilles and bang he’s gone out the club.
“He was a great lad. I remember him f***ing picking me up at a house party once and suplexing me on the sofa. I was like: ‘What you doing? We’re in the middle of a house party!’
“(I did) Nothing! Just walked past him. It was a big house party at Gary Neville‘s house and he just picked me up and f**ing suplexed me onto the sofa… (I said) ‘What the f*** Jaap!’”
Stam’s United exit in 2001 remains controversial, with Sir Alex Ferguson allegedly axing him for comments the ace made in a book appearing to criticise the club.
Fergie previously said: “When I think of disappointments, obviously Jaap Stam was always a disappointment to me, I made a bad decision there.”
Stam himself opened up on the transfer in his autobiography, saying: “I soon realised the club wanted to get rid of me. They also needed the money.
“Very soon the book became an issue again. It led to a conflict between me and the manager.
“He told me that I had to be transferred. Then he said, ‘Will you please move to Lazio quickly?’ I agreed to do it. Right there and then.
“One quick conversation in my car at a petrol station in Manchester was enough for me to leave that big club.
“When I think about it now, and I have never talked about it before, I find it unbelievable I let that, as a player, happen to me.”