Cruelest blow for 66’ s Sir Bobby
ENGLISH football has suffered another cruel blow with the news World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton has been diagnosed with dementia. dem.
The bombshell about the England and Manchester United legend comes just 72 hours after the death of fellow 1966 hero Nobby Stiles at the age of 78.
Sadly, these two have more in common than a winner’s medal from that famous afternoon at Wembley – in the shape of dementia.
Charlton’s older brother Jack, who died in July, also suffered as did Martin Peters and Ray Wilson – who died in 2019 and 2018 respectively.
The degenerative condition has now affected five members of that famous side.
The fact Charlton’s wife, Lady Norma Charlton, has decided to go public with her husband’s condition in the hope it will help others, is a damning indictment of how we all remain in the dark about its causes.
Stiles, Peters and Wilson were diagnosed with it while still in their 60s and Stiles’ son John insists he is “utterly convinced” heading a football was responsible for his father’s dementia.
A study by Glasgow University in 2019 found former professional footballers are three- and- a- half times more likely to die of dementia than people of the same age range.
At the age of 83, Charlton now becomes part of those shocking statistics. The game must find answers to the questions regarding the connection between football and dementia.
Charlton and so many others are owed that much.