Yeovil Town keeper Joe Day was made to temporarily wear a cap in matches after being hospitalised with a serious spider bite.
The 33 year old shot stopper was sporting a protective head guard after being what turned out to be a false widow spider, of which he often sees around his house.
The on-loan Newport player wore the Petr Cech-style headwear in the 3-2 FA Cup first round win over National League Gateshead, but luckily it had got better in time for the game against Torquay in midweek..
Speaking to the club’s official YouTube channel, manager Mark Cooper said that he had been scrambling for a goalkeeper on the eve of the FA Cup clash, saying: “It’s been a difficult week and on Wednesday and Thursday we did not think Joe was going to play. He got bitten by a spider and he has been in hospital for three or four days on a drip.
“He got a horrendous infection, he had to have it cut open and we were scrambling on Thursday and Friday because we didn’t have a goalkeeper.
“Joe has put his hand up and said he would play with a ‘bullet wound’ to the side of his ear, so full credit to him, he’s been great.”
One for Marvel to sink their teeth into. 🕷️ #YTFC 💚
— Yeovil Town F.C. (@YTFC) November 9, 2023
Day said in a video talking about the bite and cap he had to wear: “I’ve never reacted to a bite like this ever in my life so yeah, it was quite shocking.
“The ENT on the Monday said that’s most likely a spider bite.
“They’ve seen similar reactions to like false widow spiders.
“The goalie coach Phil sent me a picture of the rugby cap I think on the Thursday and was like and we had a bit of a chuckle over it about pet check but I felt safe wearing that on the Saturday.
“I didn’t enjoy wearing it first of all I had the big bandage underneath it as well so my right ear was pinned back and because of the swelling I’d had my hearing wasn’t great in that ear anyway, so with the bandage wrap and the cap on I couldn’t hear too well.
“It was okay. I got through it.
“Luckily by Tuesday against Torquay the wounds healed enough that the dressing and padding was suffice, so I didn’t have to wear it Tuesday.”
Every autumn, we see reports of false widow spiders inviting themselves in homes across the UK, mostly in the south of England, with numbers growing across the country.
But despite having a similar look to the more dangerous black widows, all these spiders are likely to do is give you a small and relatively harmless bite.
It might seem like false widow spiders make a dash for your home as soon as the weather turns cold out, however, they can actually be seen inside year-round.
Temperature may be one cause of the arachnid exodus as they attempt to get out of the cold, but some may have long gone unnoticed in the darkened corners of the house.
DAY’S CAREER:
Youth career
Crystal Palace
2007–2008 – Rushden & Diamonds
Senior career
2008–2011 – Rushden & Diamonds – 41 games
2009 → Brackley Town (loan) – 2 games
2009 → Harrow Borough (loan) – 2 games
2011–2014 – Peterborough United – 4 games
2011–2012 → Alfreton Town (loan) – 17 games
2012 → Eastbourne Borough (loan) – 3 games
2014 → Newport County (loan) – 16 games
2015–2019 – Newport County – 205 games
2019–2021 – Cardiff City – 2 games
2020 → AFC Wimbledon (loan) – 9 games
2021 → Bristol Rovers (loan) – 20 games
2021– Newport County – 305 games
2023 → Woking (loan) – 2 games
2023– → Yeovil Town (loan) – 13 games
He linked up with the Glovers in September 2023, quickly racking up the appearances since then, with the club tipped for immediate promotion back to the National League.
This is how social media users reacted with Yeovil keeper made to wear a cap after being hospitalised with a serious spider bite…
@Somerset_Pic: Fair play joe commitment 🟢💚
@AnnAnnieps: Hope you’re ok now Joe ⚽️⚽️⚽️💚💚💚
@louishdyoutube:
Super Joe Day In Goal 💚🧤
Now known as 🕷man! #YTFC
@Craw1304: Spider-Man 👀👀
@SamCollardUK: 😳 Bloody hell. What an effort!
@AnnAnnieps: Joe Day what an awesome guy ⚽️⚽️⚽️💚💚💚
@Lloydy_Edge11: We need to sign him asap
@brfcjacob: That’s one for zero context rovers
@mountflynn: He is amazing and just goes to show his commitment to @YTFC
@Gloversgirl: Omg! 😳 what type of spider 🕷? What a great guy 👏
@MrProPilot: His performance was amazing, he may have conceded 2 but when you consider one was a pen and the other a fluke header after a deflection off the bar he did amazingly 🤯👏👏
@KeepersSW: What a bloke 💪🏻💚🧤
— Andy (FPLMode) (@FplMode) November 4, 2023
Joe Day waking up this morning pic.twitter.com/lkUpskL0Hc
— Harry 🏴 (@harry_jc1) November 4, 2023
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