How ex-Coventry ace David Busst recovered from 22 operations to lead club’s efforts in community
DAVID BUSST runs his finger along the patchwork of scars and muscle down his right leg which made him unforgettable.
Over the past 23 years, Coventry’s former defender has discovered a bizarre form of fame since the most horrific of injuries brought a premature end to his career.
“It’s not me that’s famous,” Busst, 51, says with a softly-spoken Brummie lilt, “it’s that bottom half of my leg.
“If I’m ever playing a charity match or out and about people will ask to see it and have a picture.
“I’ve changed a lot now, I’ve not got any hair, but If I’m on a beach on holiday, fans will come over for a photo and say, ‘I was at that game.’”
They refer to Coventry’s Premier League clash at Old Trafford on April 8, 1996, when Busst was rushed to hospital after an awkward collision snapped his leg into an L-shape.
The sight of bone pierced through skin left Man United keeper Peter Schmeichel vomiting on the field and in need of counselling.
Busst, a giant of a man who walks with a slight limp, endured an agonising recovery with 10 operations in 12 days and 22 overall.
And yet, over the course of an hour sat in the home dressing room of the Ricoh Arena, he shows no sense of bitterness or regret.
Instead, there’s an appreciation for how the injury helped him in his new life as head of Sky Blues in the Community, the official charity arm of Coventry City.
It’s not me that’s famous. It's that bottom half of my leg.
David Busst
When Busst joined in 1997, it was made up of four people. His team now includes 71 people and they were shortlisted for 2018 community club of the year.
“We do projects and activities across Coventry and Warwickshire, from classes for three- and four-year-olds to our eldest walking footballer who’s 85,” Busst says.
“There’s a programme for holiday hunger. So where kids would normally get fed school meals but don’t over half-term, we put on physical activities and food for families.
“We run a Jimmy Hill Legacy Trust which raises money from events we organise. That’s spread out to worthy causes, helping buy football kits or do coaching qualifications for local clubs.
“I’m on that side of things, the face of the charity. The opportunities that have arisen from doing the injury in such a high-profile place allowed me to go into things I’m remembered for now.
“I wouldn’t change anything. I had the opportunity to go into football at 24, train everyday, play in the best league in the world and finish playing next to Eric Cantona.”
While at Hope Hospital, Sir Alex Ferguson brought Cantona’s book as a gift. He told tales of his path to Old Trafford and knew about Busst’s non-league background.
“Fergie was sat there with my mum and she didn’t know who he was,” Busst smiles.
“She asked who he was there to see, how he knew me and why she didn’t know him. Obviously my dad knew. Big Ron [Atkinson] came to see me too. The support I had was unbelievable.”
Busst needed it. He contracted MRSA and was in and out of hospital every week for the first six months. A wound on his shin was “forever getting infected” and remained open for more than a year.
Returning to football was the last thing on Busst’s mind.
“I was told after three weeks that I might have to have an operation to remove from the knee down because of all the infections,” he recalls.
“Then you just forget about playing football. You’re thinking: Can I walk again? Can I get about and exercise? If you’re told something like that it puts everything into perspective.
“That first year I did nothing. The operations were mentally testing and the support mechanisms around me from family, my wife and the PFA got me through that initial period after finding out I’d definitely never play again.
“I sort of knew; it wasn’t a great shock. But the orthopaedic surgeon confirmed what I thought and it’s upsetting to be told you can’t play for definite. That’s tough.”
But Busst isn’t one to dwell. While he never returned to the professional scene, the boots were certainly not hung up.
I was told after three weeks that I might have to have an operation to remove from the knee down because of all the infections.
David Busst
Four years after the injury, he began playing non-contact five-a-side and progressed to an over-35s team on full-size pitches.
“My natural instincts to go and tackle and jump into things didn’t go away,” Busst says.
“I had many years with that team, then five with my dad’s, and I stopped playing two years ago, aged 50. I still get dragged out now and again.”
Busst grew up in Birmingham supporting Leeds but describes himself as an “adopted Sky Blues fan since ‘91”.
Since his last game, Coventry have dropped from Premier League to third tier, and now face the prospect of being homeless next season.
Owners Sisu have, so far, failed to renew their deal at the Ricoh Arena, owned by rugby club London Wasps, and face the possibility of being kicked out the football league.
“I don’t think that will ever happen,” Busst says. “There are people, other clubs coming forward offering to groundshare and the EFL aren’t in the business of seeing clubs kicked out.
“As a fan, I want us to sort out another deal here. What would be ideal would be the football and rugby club, and whoever else owns part of that, to have a mutual 50-50 split. That would be perfect for me.”
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
Whatever happens, Busst and the charity will remain at the Ricoh, as they did in 2013 when Coventry moved in with Northampton.
“We were making sure that through our activities we didn’t lose a generation of fans,” he said. “We were in schools and that presence to remind them we are still here.”
That won’t change. Busst will do whatever he can, leg selfies and all, if it helps do good in this corner of the country.
