Soccer Extreme : An injured Premier League footballer has been robbed at knifepoint at his Cheshire home while watching his team play on television in the latest of a string of raids on footballers' mansions.Phil Jagielka, the Everton and England defender, was watching his side play Hull in the Carling Cup yesterday when three men burst into his £2m home in Knutsford and forced him to hand over jewellery and the keys to his Range Rover, which was among a number of luxury cars in his driveway.
No one was hurt in the incident and the car was found abandoned.
Jagielka, 27, is convalescing after rupturing knee ligaments in April and did not travel with his teammates to the cup game, which Everton won. It is not known if his wife and two children were at home during the break-in.
A spokeswoman for Cheshire police said: "Three men gained entry to a house in Knutsford. The homeowner was threatened with a knife and forced to hand over jewellery and the keys to his Range Rover car, fortunately nobody was injured during the incident and the car was found abandoned a short distance away."
The incident follows a series of armed raids on the luxury homes of footballers in the north-west over the last three years. Last month Blackburn midfielder Vince Grella was also held at knifepoint when thieves broke in to his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Last December, masked robbers stole jewellery from a home belonging to his former Blackburn Rovers teammate, Roque Santa Cruz. The Paraguayan star's wife, who was looking after the couple's two children, was robbed at knifepoint.
Jagielka is the 11th Merseyside footballer whose home has been robbed in recent years. Police believe the gangs target footballers' luxury homes when they are scheduled to be playing. Premier League stars have responded by boosting the security around their homes with electronic gates and extensive CCTV but that appears not to have deterred the thieves.
In February an armed gang burgled the Cheshire home of Manchester United star Darren Fletcher, hours after he had flown to Italy for a Champions League tie.
Fletcher's fiancee and mother-in-law had knives held to their throats, while the robbers stole jewellery. The couple's twin sons, aged two, were asleep in the house at the time.
Following the robbery detectives said they were looking at a possible link with other brazen robberies, which have included raids on the homes of Liverpool players Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Pepe Reina.
A spokesman for Everton football club, who said the defender was shaken by the incident, told the BBC Jagielka was "helping police with their inquiries". (guardian)