A FORMER football star has missed having his bootprints preserved in his club's hall of fame - after he was crocked by a crate of cabbages.

Belgian defender Philippe Albert, an idol among Newcastle United fans, was to have his feet cast in concrete.

But he could not attend the ceremony after his foot ended up in plaster for real.

Albert, now a market stall holder, was sidelined when a colleague dropped the heavy crate on his foot.

The towering central defender was due to jet into Tyneside and make his mark in the club's Hall of Fame at St James' Metro Station.

Always a firm favourite with Newcastle fans, Albert was due to have his bootprints added to the concrete pitch at the station yesterday, as well as attend a star-studded dinner honouring another United hero, Peter Beardsley, on Sunday.

From his home in Charleroi, Belgium, Albert said he was devastated to miss both events.

"I suppose it was a case of terrible luck," he said. "I was at work on the stall when somebody dropped the cabbages on my foot.

"I couldn't believe it when it happened. At first, I didn't think there was too much wrong, but a couple of days later I couldn't walk on it and that's when I went to see the doctor. I had to have a plaster on for five weeks.

"Although I had it taken off at the end of last week, the physio told me I still wasn't well enough to fly to England. I'm having to rest it and, hopefully, I will be walking again properly in a few days."

Albert, who joined United for £2.6m in 1994, will now have to wait until the New Year before he can finally be included in the Hall of Fame.