“It turns out Stoke away wasn’t so bad after all,” said former Tottenham star Andros Townsend, after nearly getting run over by a pitch roller.The stuff of a Final Destination movie is not exactly what you’d expect to see out on a football pitch, but it’s exactly what unfolded in the warm-up before Pattani versus PT Prachuap in Thai League 1. Having been innocently going through his warm-up drills, minding his own business, Townsend soon found himself staring up at the sky with his leg stuck under an out-of-control roller.So, how exactly did Andros Townsend go from the Tottenham academy to nearly getting run over on a football pitch in Thailand? No, we don’t mean how the driver lost control of the roller, this is the story of how a Tottenham Hotspur academy graduate who once went flying down the wing at White Hart Lane wound up playing football in Thailand.What happened to Andros Townsend after Tottenham?In came a Swansea corner, headed away by Nabil Bentaleb. It fell to Andros Townsend, who powered down the wing in trademark fashion, drove into the box, cut back inside and curled the ball past Lukas Fabianski.Tottenham 3-1 Swansea. Even though Gylfi Sigurdsson found the net a little while later, Townsend’s goal was enough to hand Spurs all three points. It would prove to be the final goal he’d score in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt.Seven months later, the fourth official’s board was held up, with Townsend’s number on it in red. Josh Onomah replaced him, and he was left to sit on the bench and watch Tottenham struggle to level the scores against Anderlecht in the Europa League. They lost 2-1.That proved to be his final appearance for Spurs after 93 games in all competitions and 11 goals. Townsend had been struggling for first-team football anyway, but an argument with Nathan Gardiner, the club’s fitness coach on the touchline, made things worse and saw him dropped from the squad. An apology followed and did lead to the matter being deemed to be over, but there was not a second of first-team action forthcoming.Come the January window, after working his way up through the academy, putting in the work over nine loan spells, and finally cementing himself as a Tottenham Hotspur first-team regular and, indeed, England international too, it was over. A £12 million deal with Newcastle United was agreed.Photo by Michael Regan/Getty ImagesStarring for Crystal Palace in the Premier LeagueTownsend’s time at Newcastle was relatively short-lived. The club were relegated at the end of the 2015/16 season, and a £13 million release clause in his contract was soon triggered by Crystal Palace.Over the next five years, Townsend starred for Palace with 185 appearances and 16 goals, one of which was a stunning volley at the Etihad against Manchester City. So good it was, it was nominated for the Puskas Award and, unsurprisingly, won goal of the season.Throughout his time with them, Townsend established himself as a very dependable Premier League winger, which is why, when he was released, he soon found his way to Everton.But then, disaster struck.In March, up against Palace in the FA Cup – a game they lost 4-0 – he was forced off with injury, which was later revealed to be an ACL. That ended his season, as well as the next.Without any action for 18 months, he left Everton when his contract expired, and it’s perhaps from here that things start to get a little more ‘out there’ in his footballing career.Tough conversations for Townsend“It was probably one of the toughest conversations I’ve had in my career,” admitted Andros Townsend. Without a club, Townsend had been working hard to earn a new opportunity somewhere else and thought he’d found it with newly promoted Burnley. Terms had been agreed after a successful trial, and Townsend had been looking at houses, looking at schools, talking about squad numbers.Then he was told the deal was off. The contract was no longer on the table.Burnley pulled out, unwilling to stifle the development of their younger players, but he was understandably crushed. “It rocked my world,” he said. And thus the hunt began again, with him later stating he’d been rejected by “so many clubs” on that journey, both at home and abroad.Finally, though, in came Luton Town.After an ACL injury, no football in more than a year and that Burnley episode, winding up at Luton just 25 minutes from where he lived was probably quite a welcome twist of fate. He was solid for them too, with his first goal for the club leading to a 1-0 victory over Newcastle as the Hatters sought to seal Premier League survival. But ultimately, it was not to be. Luton were relegated back to the Championship. And now, Townsend was about to go on something of a journey…Andros Townsend suffers troubles in TurkeyWith three days until the new Championship season was set to begin, Townsend had a choice to make. Antalyaspor of the Süper Lig had come calling, and not just that, he had only 24 hours to decide, with a transfer ban looming for them.He went for it. Signed the contract. But the registration ban had already taken effect and as such, Townsend not only couldn’t be registered to play, but couldn’t even be announced as a new Antalyaspor player.“I’m stuck in Antalyaspor just training, I don’t know who owns me, I don’t know where my contract is,” he revealed. The Turkish side supposedly owed money to two former players and were hopeful that once doing so, they would be able to complete Townsend’s transfer. “There were so many red flags, you wouldn’t believe it,” he admitted. “But something was telling me this is the right move for me, to go and experience something new in Antalya, which is a beautiful city right near the beach. Something was telling me to make it happen.”A few weeks into September, the deal finally went through, and Townsend could get back to doing what he does best. But after 23 appearances and two goals, but the chaos had not quite subsided.Come summer 2025, Townsend and Antalyaspor agreed to terminate his contract. The former England winger also admitted that having not been paid his wages for a few months, he was told he could take it but he would never play for the club again.So he took it. He told his agent that he didn’t care where he ended up next; he just wanted it to be “somewhere nice, interesting and tropical”.Andros Townsend’s Thai adventure feels far from TottenhamThe 16th club of Andros Townsend’s footballing career was Kanchanburi Power FC in Thailand, where, to sum up the change in circumstances, he had to “dry myself with a sock” after one match with no towel in the shower.With the newly promoted side, Townsend played all of their league matches, starting 25 of them and scoring three goals. He also notched six assists. But he was unable to stop them from getting relegated. Once more, there was a decision to make. Leave Thailand and try somewhere new? Instead, he decided to continue the adventure. He headed to PT Prachuap and continued plying his trade in Thailand’s top flight.He’d asked his agent for somewhere nice, interesting and tropical, and he’d most certainly found it. “It’s a stripped-back way of living, there’s a farmer’s market everywhere you look,” he reflected. “There’s natural food, natural produce, and it’s a really relaxing way of living, and for my change of focus in the last few years it’s a perfect place for me to come and play football for however long it is.”As long as there are no more incidents with any out-of-control rollers, there’s every chance there are still a few chapters left in the story of Andros Townsend…READ MORE: The post What happened to Andros Townsend after Tottenham? From Goal of the Season to drying himself with a sock in Thailand appeared first on Spurs Web.