Photo: Ardfern via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Manchester United Defender Chris Smalling Goes Fully Vegan

The England center-back says cutting out animal products has cleared up the knee tendinitis that used to wreck his pre-season

August 5, 2018

Manchester United and England defender Chris Smalling has gone fully vegan, and he says the switch has already done away with the knee pain that used to make every pre-season a slog.

The 28-year-old center-back, who has averaged more than 45 games a season over the last three years, told ESPN FC that he cut out red meat first, then dropped the rest. His wife Sam has been vegan for a few years and did most of the persuading.

Now I've gone fully vegan and normally the start of preseason can be quite a tough time because you're loading and that's normally when it's at its worst but I haven't felt it at all.

The problem was tendinitis in his knee, which he says "quite a lot of footballers get". Red meat was the first thing to go because of the inflammation it causes. "When I was cutting that down, the tendinitis started to go," he said. "It used to be quite a problem in terms of all warm-ups because getting going was a bit of a nightmare."

Health got him started, and the ethics finished the job. "The main reason I started was my health. At first, I was half and half so I was cutting out red meat but still eating some meat," he told the Daily Mail, as reported by VegNews. "But [...] the missus throws quite a lot of documentaries at you and it opens your eyes a little bit in terms of different industries, and that persuaded me to go full vegan." He admits he still likes the taste of steak and chicken, but says he doesn't miss them "because there are so many different options now". The club chef has worked out separate menus for him, including for away trips, and a few team-mates are already trying bits and pieces.

Smalling joins a growing list of plant-powered sportsmen. Earlier this summer center JaVale McGee won his second straight NBA title with Golden State, and last year a 252lb international rugby player went vegan after watching a YouTube video. Meanwhile research keeps showing that plant protein is just as good for building muscle, so the old protein question is running out of road.

No meat, no problem.