I’ve played football for nearly two decades. In that time I have met hundreds, if not thousands of other players, and seen pretty much everything there is to see on a football pitch.

I’ve seen dogs taking a shit in the middle of the goal, fights and a personal favourite of mine, random people getting hit by footballs which seem to have a mind of their own.

One thing I have rarely seen, and I am grateful for this, is horror tackles or ones that make you wince when the challenge goes in.

I have played in two matches where a player has had their leg broken. The first time, a teammate went to kick the ball but ended up kicking the ground and broke his leg. Very unfortunate but he made a swift recovery.

The second leg break wasn’t that nice. I played in goal and heard the leg break, which took place on the half-way line, from where I was standing. It was by far one of the worst sounds I have ever heard.

My teammate had come from behind with a quite nasty and reckless challenge, which broke the opponent’s leg.

His team were livid and trying to defuse the situation was difficult, the main concern had to be making sure the young man was OK and calling an ambulance.

But once the adrenaline had passed and people began thinking properly, it was agreed that there was no malice in the tackle and it was just mis-timed. It wasn’t an intentional leg breaker and my teammate called the player the following day to see how he was doing.

The reason I bring these incidents up is I believe no player crosses the white line with the intention to cause serious damage — apart from Roy Keane when he intentionally injured Alf-Inge Haaland.

Even in the most agressive of derbies across the world, no-one wants to put in a tackle which could potentially end a player’s career.

So seeing Kelly Smith say that Sunderland defender Abby Holmes effectively set out to end her career and that she wasn’t good enough to play at that level was in my eyes very harsh.

I understand the frustration Smith must be going through right now, having to sit on the sidelines while her teammates continue with their season.

But throwing Holmes under the bus wasn’t needed. It was a bad tackle but from watching replays, a tackle the defender was entitled to make.

Yes it was mis-timed and reckless but what player, be it at amateur or professional level, hasn’t been a bit late when trying to win the ball?

Some players after making a horrible tackle get up like it was intentional but it is rarely a challenge which breaks a bone.

Look at the reactions of players who have broken an opponent’s leg. Ryan Shawcross was reduced to tears when he broke Aaron Ramsey’s leg, despite Arsenal fans insisting to this day that it was done on purpose.

Managers often say to their players before game to “go in hard,” or “make the first tackle count,” which translates to “put in a very rough tackle when you get the chance which doesn’t injure the player but does hurt them a bit,” (that’s what I think it means anyway).

But I can’t see Carlton Fairweather telling Holmes, or any other player, to run out and purposely end someone’s career and I am glad the Football Association reprimanded Smith and warned her about her comments.

They were libellous and Holmes is now taking legal action against the former England international — Smith could be forced to pay damages — and Sunderland felt they were forced to release a statement defending their player.

“Abby strongly denies claims that there was any malicious intent in the challenge or that it was premeditated,” it said.

“Furthermore, she is taking legal advice regarding the nature of the remarks and as such it would be inappropriate to comment further at the present time.”

Kicca could also be in trouble for posting the blog and should have known better. But I guess for them the publicity helped raise their profile.

Even so, given that Smith isn’t a young player she should have known better.

Comments such as “while she gets a three-match ban, I, in effect, get a 15-game ban in the league as well as cup games,” and “she’s clearly not good enough to be playing at this level,” could have a lasting effect on Holmes’s career, especially if this dirty player label sticks.

Holmes may not play the same way and that could impact her chances of being called up to the national squad or stunt her development.

I wish Smith the speediest of recoveries and hope the injury doesn’t have a lasting effect on her career. “I’m absolutely furious and I can’t get that tackle out of my head,” she said and no-one blames her for feeling that way.

“Those type of tackles end careers,” she also said and while she is correct, the rest of her post was unnecessary and malicious.