Channon hurt as pal dies in crash

FORMER England soccer star Mick Channon was in hospital last night after a motorway smash which killed one of his best pals.
Mick — now a top racehorse trainer — was airlifted to hospital suffering from broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken arm and a fractured jaw.


He was a passenger in a silver Mercedes which careered off the M1 and smashed into a concrete pillar. His 15-year-old son Jack was also hurt and driver Tim Corby, a racing agent, died.


Mick’s elder son Michael, 33, said his father had a “tough old night” in the intensive care unit at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.


Video producer Michael added: “We have been out of our wits worrying about our own family. But as for the Corbys, our hearts really go out to them.


“Tim was a friend of Mick’s for over 30 years. Mick is absolutely devastated.”

He said Mr Corby left wife Sheila and daughter Adriana, and went on: “Mick’s heart goes out to them.”
Mick, 59, and Jack were returning with Tim, 63, to their West Ilsley stables in Berkshire after attending a horse sale in Doncaster, South Yorks, when they crashed near Kegworth, Leics.

As he waited for surgery to pin bones and wire his jaw, his horse Woolston Ferry won yesterday’s 4.50 at Lingfield.


In 1976 Mick helped second-tier Southampton sensationally beat Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup Final. He scored 229 goals for the south coast side and played 46 times for England.


Sue Harding, spokesman for his stables, said: “Mick and Jack are both more or less the same. Jack has a punctured lung. He won’t be coming out for a while.”


She said Mick’s wife Jill Channon had rushed to hospital to be with the pair.


Trainer Brendan Powell said: “Tim was a lovely guy. His knowledge of bloodlines and the business was brilliant. There was nobody better.”