A young Manchester United footballer whose career was ended by a reckless tackle has been awarded record damages of more than £4.3 million. The payout is the highest to a sportsman or woman and sports law experts said yesterday that it would set a precedent.

Ben Collett’s dream of breaking into the Manchester United first team was destroyed in 2003, when a challenge by Gary Smith, of Middlesbrough, broke his leg in two places. Mr Collett, who had joined the club as a nine-year-old, was 18 and making his debut for the reserve team.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, told an earlier hearing: “I thought the boy showed fantastic focus, a great attitude to work hard, and they are qualities to give any player an outstanding chance in the game.”

Mrs Justice Swift, sitting in London, awarded Mr Collett £4.3 million, which included £3.9 million for loss of future earnings, £460,000 for past earnings and about £40,000 as compensation for pain and suffering.

She said that once the future loss of pension and interest on loss of earnings were taken into account, the sum was likely to exceed £4.5 million. The court was told that Mr Collett, who is now 23 and intends to study English at Leeds University, could have earned in excess of £16 million if he had played until the age of 35.

Mrs Justice Swift said of Mr Collett: “I found him a most impressive young man. He was plainly intelligent and it is clear that he has brought — and will in the future bring — to his academic studies the same dedication and commitment that he formerly applied to football.”

Both Middlesbrough and Smith admitted liability for the injury, which occurred during a high “over the ball” tackle. The hearing was to decide how much should be paid by Middlesbrough’s insurers.

Mr Collett, a midfield player, would have been offered a three-year professional contract in July 2003 if he had not broken his leg, and was on course to spend at least part, if not most, of his career in the Premier League.

Experts in sports law were surprised by the size of the settlement, saying that it was difficult to predict when young players would join the first team. Of Mr Collett’s ten Manchester United team-mates from the 2003 FA Youth Cup Final, fewer than half now play in the Premier League.

Ian Blackshaw, an international sports lawyer, said: “Just because somebody has come through the academy and has started to play, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the next 12 years will be brilliant, and that has to be reflected in the level of damages.”

The average salary in the Coca Cola League Two, the lowest tier of the Football League, is about £1,000 a week — about 7 per cent of what an average Premier League player could expect to earn.

Mr Collett’s lawyer, Jan Levinson, said: “The size of the award reflects his talent and potential as one of the brightest young footballers in the country.

“The judgment announced today is the highest award ever given to a professional sportsman or sportswoman.”

Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, said that the payout could affect clubs’ insurance premiums.