Inside Michail Antonio’s incredible rise from non-league and plans to go into showbiz as star recovers from car crash

MICHAIL ANTONIO is recovering in hospital following surgery to a broken leg after a horror car crash.

The West Ham star, 34, had to be cut free from his £260,000 Ferrari FF which was ripped apart when it hit a tree in Theydon Bois, Essex, on Saturday.

Antonio had a miraculous escape from the incident, and his club have commented on his well-being.

A club statement read: "West Ham United can confirm Michail Antonio has undergone surgery on a lower limb fracture following a road traffic accident on Saturday afternoon (7 December 2024).

"Michail will continue to be monitored in hospital over the coming days.

"Everyone at the Club wishes Michail a speedy recovery and wishes to express its sincere gratitude to the football family at large for the overwhelming support shown since yesterday’s news, as well as extending a heartfelt thank you to the emergency services and first responders who attended to Michail in the immediate aftermath of the incident, and the medical team who continue to aid him in his recovery."

"The Club will provide further updates when appropriate."

The outpouring of love from the football community has been massive, with Antonio recognised as a big character in the game.

The Wandsworth-born forward started from humble beginnings - playing for non-league Tooting & Mitcham United.

Away from football, a game he's not always liked, he has his own BBC podcast alongside fellow Premier League star Callum Wilson called The Footballer's Football Podcast.

When he retires from the game, Antonio has ambitions to get into showbiz.

Incredible rise

Antonio's story in football began with Tooting & Mitcham United in 2008.

Despite the team only competing in a regional league, Antonio went on to climb his way up the football pyramid.

After impressing rather swiftly that year, he was offered a trial at Reading - some five divisions up - and Alan Pardew duly snapped him up.

However, he later revealed he got kicked out by Tooting, after he refused to sign a contract. He then went to AFC Wimbledon who wouldn't stump up his registration fee, so he returned to Tooting.

Speaking to Gary Lineker and Micah Richards on the Rest Is Football podcast, he said: "Before I actually signed for Reading I got kicked out of Tooting and Mitcham.

"They kicked me out because I refused to sign a contract.

“I was like: ‘If someone comes in for me I don't want to be tied down. I want to be able to go and not you out price me’."

“So they [Tooting] kicked me out of the club and I ended up going to AFC Wimbledon.

"Then AFC Wimbledon refused to pay £7 for my registration fee, and told me to pay it. And I was like: ‘I ain't paying seven quid!’

“So I ended up going back to Tooting and Mitcham, signing the contract, getting paid, and within like five games of signing my contract, I signed for Reading.”

Following spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, in 2015 he was plucked from the Championship in a £7million deal by West Ham who were then coached by Slaven Bilic.

He's been there ever since, winning a player of the year award, twice being named Premier League player of the month and lifting a European trophy.

Mental health struggles

Antonio, who snubbed England to play for Jamaica where he's been capped 21 times, has been very open with his struggles mentally in recent times.

On the pitch, he scored success with the Hammers - lifting the Europa Conference League in 2023.

However, off it his private life was in turmoil. He divorced wife Debbie, who has been by his bedside since his car crash, around the same time as the most glittering moment of his career.

"I was going through my divorce and stuff, and I honestly couldn't get my head around it," he told the Original Penguin X Campaign Against Living Miserably Under The Surface podcast.

"After we won, the whole team went out, the gaffer (David Moyes) went out, got steaming, a couple of boys didn't sleep for two days, just got drunk for two days.

"I was asleep on the coach and went back to the hotel. I was just mentally drained because of everything that was going on outside of my football and then I went back to the hotel and went to sleep while everyone was out partying.

"It wasn't until probably December where I was in a better place where I was like, ''Oh my God, I've won a European championship''.'

That moment might not have happened

Before that, Antonio was struggling with being a footballer and contemplated quitting the game.

He recalled a moment he laid in bed alongside Debbie, the mother of his four children, and began to weep.

He said: "I don't like showing emotion and I like dealing with things, but tears were just falling from my eyes in bed.

"My Mrs was laying next to me in bed and I didn't say anything, just tears falling – she looked up and said, 'Are you alright?' and I said 'Yeah, I'm fine', but she said 'You can't be fine, you're crying', and I just said 'I don't know if I want to play football anymore'."

Antonio continued: "Me talking to my Mrs, my brother and my agent took a bit of the weight off me, enough for me to keep going to training and stuff like that..."

That's entertainment

Antonio was recently asked by Gary Lineker on the Rest is Football podcast what he would like to do when he retires from the game.

"I want your job!" he joked before revealing his future ideal role.

He continued: "To be fair I don't want to go into punditry, I want to go into entertainment.

"So more on the basis of A League of Their Own, Play to the Whistle... I want Micah's job!"

With that, he drew more laughter from Lineker and Richards.

As such an infectious personality, it's certainly a career path Antonio would be well suited to.