 In January 1998 a lawsuit was issued against Gayle by former Bolton Wanderers defender Nicky Spooner.Spooner was playing for Bolton in a game against Burnley at Turf Moor in October 1994 when Gayle clattered into the player severely breaking his right leg and leaving him out of the professional game for three seasons.The tackle all but ended the future career of Spooner and he had to have a number of operations on the injury as well as a bone graft.