Former Premier League midfielder Jamie O'Hara claims he was caught up in a terrifying incident in which he had a knife pulled on him - only for the attacker to realise he was not the intended target.
The 36-year-old, who represented England at under-21 level, took to social media to recount the harrowing moment a man approached him from behind with a view to stabbing him. O'Hara was talking to a woman in a shop when he was almost attacked, but the would-be assailant discovered the former Tottenham, Wolves and Fulham star was not his target.
The talkSPORT pundit, who won the League Cup with Spurs in 2008, wrote on Twitter: "Just walked into a shop chatting to women on desk, guy comes up behind me goes to stab me."
In the since-deleted tweet, he added: "As I turn round he realises I’m not the guy he wants to stab and stops and says I’m sorry I thought you were someone else I was bought to stab u, just walks off and I’m stood like wtf!"
O'Hara did not state whether he has contacted the police to report the distressing ordeal.
The Dartford native, who was on Arsenal and Tottenham's books as a child, made 56 senior appearances for the latter club and spent time on loan at Chesterfield, Millwall, Portsmouth and Wolves before joining the Molineux club permanently in 2011.
He reached the FA Cup final with Pompey in 2010, falling short against Chelsea in the final, during which he played all 90 minutes. O'Hara subsequently joined Blackpool, Fulham and Gillingham before dropping out of the English Football League to join Billericay Town.
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He brought the curtain down on his playing career with a stint as player-manager of the Essex club in the 2019/20 season. O'Hara earned a total of seven caps for the Young Lions and flirted with the idea of representing Republic of Ireland, whom he was eligible to play for on account of having grandparents from the country.
He could also have featured for Northern Ireland as his father was born in Magherafelt, a town in County Londonderry. As it happened, O'Hara never represented any of the three nations he was eligible to play for at senior level, despite then-Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy expressing his desire to call up the midfielder.
O'Hara was married to model Danielle Lloyd between 2012 and 2014 and they have three sons, Archie, Harry and George. Since hanging up his boots, he has become a mainstay on radio station talkSPORT and frequently makes the headlines with his outspoken views on various footballing topics. He also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.
