Marco Silva returns to scene of Ryan Mason injury and ‘saddest day’ in football

Marco Silva will return to the scene of his “saddest day” as a football manager when Fulham travel to Chelsea on Friday.

Silva was in charge of Hull in 2017 when midfielder Ryan Mason suffered a career-ending fractured skull following a sickening collision with Gary Cahill.

The then 25-year-old was taken to hospital after receiving treatment for nine minutes on the field before departing on a stretcher, while receiving oxygen.

Friday marks Silva’s 400th game as a manager but when asked about memories of Stamford Bridge, he reflected on the day back in 2017.

“I will tell you one memory for me that was the saddest one, but one that comes clear in my mind, was Ryan Mason had a bad injury when I was in Hull,” he said.

“It comes to mind because it was probably my saddest day as a manager in football.

“It was that evening, Chelsea against Hull, (memorable) because of what happened to Ryan Mason.

“Each game is a different story and we have to write our own story tomorrow.”

Mason tried to make a comeback from the injury but was forced to retire 12 months later, aged just 26.

Since then he has gone into coaching, becoming the youngest boss in the Premier League at the age of 29 when he stood in as interim Tottenham head coach in 2021.