 During Smith 's 14 seasons with Stoke , he became known for his fearless mentality which led to him sustaining a large number of injuries . These included five broken legs , breaking his nose four times , a cracked ankle , broken collar bone , chipped spine , breaking most of his fingers and toes and needing more than 200 stitches . The sequence saw him named in the Guinness Book of Records as the most injured man in football . Early into his career Smith soon developed a reputation as a " hard player " , who would launch himself at opponents determined to either block a shot and win the ball , which is how he picked up most of his injuries . He was known as Stoke 's " hitman " , and relished going toe to toe with the biggest and most feared opposition players . 
