James Maddison: From Injury to Family Chaos
James Maddison jokes that life at home has felt like being “in the trenches”. Five children, all aged four and under. Two sets of twins. A serious knee injury. A lost season.
And now, finally, the way back.
His story opens the new series of The Football Interview, which returns on BBC One at 12:45 every Saturday during the Premier League season, and is also available on BBC iPlayer, BBC Football’s YouTube channel and the BBC Sport website and app. In the first episode of the new campaign, Kelly Somers sits down with the Tottenham Hotspur playmaker to unpick a year that almost broke him.
A lost season and a full house
Maddison, now 29, missed almost the entire 2025-26 season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament last August. The injury stripped him of football, rhythm, and routine. At home, life went the other way – full throttle.
During his recovery, his partner gave birth to their second set of twins. Five children under four in the house, while their dad hobbled around with a damaged knee and a career on pause.
He calls it “the toughest year of his life”, but not just because of the rehab. The chaos became his anchor.
“I needed that positive distraction of my partner being pregnant and having to be there for her and forget about myself, even though I was going through a traumatic experience through my knee,” he tells Somers.
The scenes he paints are hardly glamorous. “A lot of nappies flying about, a lot of accidents at home, but it'll all be worth it,” he says. Then the line that tells you he means it: “We still love it. I wouldn't change it for the world.”
When your child thinks you’ve left the club
The injury didn’t just remove Maddison from the pitch. It quietly rewrote how his own son saw him.
“I missed a year of football, and a year in a child's life – from three and a half to four and a half – it's obviously massive,” he says.
At one point, his eldest, Leo, thought he had left Spurs altogether. The boy simply couldn’t remember Dad out on the grass.
“He couldn't even remember over a year ago when he was at all the games,” Maddison explains. “It would be nice for him to come to the games again and actually remember Dad playing instead of just Dad sat at home watching him with a machine on his knee.”
For a player who thrives on being the creative heartbeat of a side, that image of him on the sofa, strapped up and sidelined, cuts deep.
Watching Spurs suffer
While Maddison rehabbed, Tottenham lurched through a miserable season. They survived only on the final day, ending just two points above the relegation zone. For a club that talks about European nights, the reality was far more stark.
From his living room, he watched a team short on ideas, knowing exactly the pockets he would usually occupy.
“We probably struggled a little bit for creativity and I'm watching the games thinking, 'what would I be doing there?',” he says. The frustration of being unable to affect it was obvious.
Then came a turning point.
De Zerbi’s reset
In March, Italian head coach Roberto de Zerbi walked through the doors at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and tried something simple: he wanted the players to enjoy football again.
“He's very clever. He's very tactical. He's obsessed with football, you can see that,” Maddison says. But De Zerbi resisted the urge to drown a fragile squad in detail.
“When he first came in – in comparison to pre-season and what we're training now – he didn't want to make it too complicated. He just wanted us to get the love back for playing football.”
The methods were not all about rondos and video clips. One of his first moves was to take the group out together and loosen the shoulders.
A team meal. Alcohol allowed. Not your usual mid-crisis script.
The 29-year-old recalls De Zerbi telling the squad: “We're all going to be drinking alcohol, we're all going to be having a good night.”
Maddison understood the message immediately. “He wanted us to have a night where we all just relax,” he says. “That feeling that we got made everyone feel more knitted together, straight away.”
On the bench in slippers
De Zerbi’s man-management went further. He wanted Maddison back around the group before the midfielder felt ready.
Another early decision: put him on the bench.
“I was almost like, 'I'm not ready to play yet, boss',” Maddison admits.
De Zerbi’s response was blunt and telling. He told Maddison he could come on the bench “in my slippers” if he wanted. The point was not minutes. It was presence.
“He just wanted me around the group and he thought that would benefit the group,” Maddison says. “I took that as a massive compliment and just acted as if I was part of the bench, part of the team.”
Spurs did just enough. “I'm not saying that's the reason why, but we managed to steer clear of the danger, which was a good feeling.”
Eyes on a clean season
Maddison finally returned to action against Leeds on 11 May, a significant step after months of grind. He has not been risked in pre-season yet, but there is no hint of doubt when he talks about what comes next.
“I'm working so hard to try and be fully fit and available for the majority of the season,” he says. The target is simple and, after the last year, precious.
“I want just a fully fit, healthy season where I can just enjoy football. Because if I'm fully fit and I'm healthy, then I know what I'm capable of. And I know that I can affect games more than a lot of players in this league. So, let's just hope for that.”
Tottenham have already stared over the edge once. If Maddison gets the season he’s chasing, the question now is how far he can drag them back up the table.
