Spurs legend Ardiles airlifted to hospital in Falklands

SPURS legend Ossie Ardiles has been airlifted to hospital in the Falkland Islands after a "serious" car crash that left him requiring more than 20 stitches in a head wound.

The footballer, who played for and managed Spurs and was part of Argentina's World Cup winning side of 1978, was in the Falklands with former club and international team mate Ricky Villa to make a documentary about the impact of the Falklands War on their playing careers.

Ardiles was at the wheel of a hire car when it left a gravel road and overturned on Monday night, it has been reported. There were seven people in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

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"Three members of the group remained in hospital overnight for observations and further treatments and the remaining four were released following treatment for minor injuries," a spokesman for the Falkland Islands Government told the Daily Mirror.

Argentine website Minutouno.com reports that Ardiles lost control of the vehicle when he was surprised by sheep crossing the road and swerved to avoid them.

The footballer's eldest son, Pablo, told the BBC that his father was "fine" although he had suffered a head injury. "He has 20 odd stitches in his head and my understanding is he has been hospitalised overnight," he said.

Another of Ardiles's sons, who is producing the documentary for ESPN, was also in the car, but he and Villa, famous for scoring one of the great FA Cup goals for Spurs against Manchester City in the 1981 FA Cup final replay, are said to have escaped serious injury.

Ardiles and Villa became cult figures at Spurs after joining the club in 1978, and Ardiles was immortalised by singers Chas 'n' Dave (below) before the 1981 Cup final. Ardiles left the club for a season in the wake of the Falklands War, and Villa was sold at the end of the 1983 season.

Ardiles returned to Spurs in 1983, and played for several other English clubs before embarking on a managerial career that included a year in charge of Tottenham.