Footy star reveals the utterly bizarre way he overcame the same injury that has robbed the Matildas of Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler

Swans premiership star Alex Johnson has opened up about the strange way he overcame the shocking knee injury that has kept Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler off the field.

Johnson, 33, went through a horror run of luck while playing for the Swans, suffering five separate anterior cruciate ligament tears on the same knee.

Upon returning to the field in 2018, the luckless footy star did the same injury to his other knee, which he required two reconstructions on.

'I've had seven ACL reconstructions - five on my left and two on my right,' he told the Ball Magnets podcast.

'Seven reconstructions and five or six other surgeries across both knees.

'Clinically I don't have an ACL in my left knee and I played AFL without it - it disappeared at the end of 2016.'

Astonishingly, Johnson continued his career without an ACL in his left knee.

'I think just fourteen surgeries on that knee its just built up so much scar tissue that effectively it takes over from the ACL,' said Johnson.

'It's bizarre.'

Johnson, who is now a development coach at the Western Bulldogs, says he can still run around with the players.

'I can straight-line run,' he said.

'I get involved in training every now and then with the boys at the Dogs, and enjoy that side of it.

'I'd love to play park footy, but it's probably not worth it.'

The number of anterior cruciate ligament injuries is increasing in Australian sport, especially among female athletes.

Matildas star Sam Kerr has been out of action since suffering an ACL injury during  training in early January 2024. It is still not clear when she will be able to return to play.

Teammate Mary Fowler ruptured her ACL when playing for Manchester City in the FA Cup, and now faces at least nine months on the sidelines.

Football-focused studies have shown women are six-times more likely to suffer ACL injuries compared to men, and 25 per cent less likely to return after recovery.

The British Orthopaedic Association has labelled the number of injuries reported in top flight women's football as 'just the tip of the iceberg'.

It claims there has been a 'rapid' increase in the number of younger, amateur athletes sustaining ACL injuries, with the biggest rise seen in teenage girls.

Critics have blamed sportswear manufacturers for raising the risk of injury.

Many football boots do not account for the fact women's feet are shaped differently to men, meaning female players can wear ill-fitting shoes that can increase the risk of injury.

Women also run in a different way to men, yet studs are designed around male movement.