Luke Brooke-Smith Faces Lengthy Lay-Off After Freak Injury
Portsmouth’s bright young winger Luke Brooke-Smith is facing the prospect of missing the rest of the season after suffering a serious ankle injury in training.
The 18-year-old, who only arrived at Fratton Park in the summer from Wellington Phoenix, dislocated his ankle in what boss John Mousinho described as a “really unfortunate” incident during a session this week.
Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Mousinho laid bare the extent of the damage.
“He’s suffered a severe ankle dislocation,” the Pompey head coach said. “Off the back of that, there is a fracture on his fibula and significant ligament damage.”
Medical staff at the training ground reacted quickly before Brooke-Smith was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital. He has since been discharged, but the road back will be long.
“It was dealt with really well by everyone at the training ground and he was taken to QA before being discharged,” Mousinho added. “We’re going to leave it to settle for a couple of days, but he will go in for surgery after that.”
For a teenager just starting to find his feet in English football, the timing is brutal.
Brooke-Smith has made four appearances for Pompey this season, including one start in the Championship, with three further outings from the bench. It was the kind of gentle introduction a young wide player needs: minutes, exposure, the sense that opportunities will come if he keeps knocking.
Now everything stops.
The winger addressed the setback on his Instagram page, laying bare the emotional hit as well as the physical damage.
“No words with how I’m feeling right now,” he wrote. “A freak incident in training causing me to dislocate my ankle, break fibula and potential ligament damage.
“As I don’t know the severity yet I’m trying my best to stay positive in a really hard time for me. I will work my hardest to get back out on the pitch to play for this amazing club.
“Thank you to all the staff and players for getting around me.”
The message captured the mood: shock, frustration, but also defiance. Portsmouth have invested in his potential; he clearly intends to repay that faith, even if the timeline has suddenly stretched.
For Mousinho, it is a blow to both squad depth and long-term planning. For Brooke-Smith, it is the first major test of a professional career still in its infancy.
The surgery will come, the rehab will follow, and the Championship season will march on without him. The real question now is simple: how strong will he be when he finally pulls that Portsmouth shirt back on again?
