Gordon Ramsay - Soccer Ace Insists He Mistimed Gordon Ramsay Tackle

Hell's Kitchen star Ramsay was given oxygen on the pitch and was taken to hospital with an agonising back injury after Sheringham clattered him from behind during the star-studded Soccer Aid event in Manchester, England.

Sheringham's full-blooded tackle attracted a swathe of abusive messages on Twitter.com, and the ex-sportsman took to his own page on the microblogging website on Monday (28May12) to explain the incident.

He writes, "Never set out to hurt rammer (Ramsay) but football is (a) contact sport these things happen. Just got my timing wrong! Am in my mid 40s you know!"

The biennial event, in which international celebrities including Will Ferrell, Mike Myers and Edward Norton took on a team of British stars in a challenge match, raised more than $6.4 million (£4 million) for Unicef.