TWENTY MONTHS AFTER suffering a horrific leg injury, Ireland international Alan Judge has today made his return to football as he lined out for Brentford’s second team.
Judge has been sidelined since suffering a double compound fracture in his leg during the Championship clash with Ipswich in April 2016, but is now nearing the final stages of his extensive rehabilitation programme.
The 29-year-old, capped once at international in the friendly against Switzerland two weeks before his injury setback, played 45 minutes this afternoon as Brentford B defeated Barnet’s U23 XI.
Judge also marked his first game back by slotting home a penalty after just 10 minutes and will now hope to push for a return to first team action over the Christmas period.
The long-term layoff was a cruel blow for the Dubliner who had been in superb form for Brentford and had put himself in a great position to be included in Martin O’Neill’s squad for Euro 2016.
Judge had initially hoped to return at the end of last season but suffered a setback and further surgery was required.
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