‘Dementia footballers neglected by super-rich game today’
1966 World Cup winner Bobby Moore is held aloft by Geoff Hurst and Ray Wilson, right. Below, Ray at the old Leeds Road ground in his Town days FAMILIES of footballers with dementia have hit out at the super-rich sport for “neglecting” them.
Some former stars are forced to rely on charity from hard up fans to pay for drugs and care as they say there is insufficient help from today’s wealthy players, clubs, or the footballing authorities.
Former Town star Ray Wilson – who won the world cup medal as part of England’s victorious 1966 team – is one who has been diagnosed with the illness.
A new draft help booklet for footballers with dementia and their families, seen by the Examiner’s sister paper the Mirror, does not even mention any financial support available within the game. Instead, it advises players to claim benefits or to eat “finger foods” if they struggle with a knife and fork.
Dawn Astle, who founded the Jeff Astle Foundation after her England international father died from dementia, said footballers were not chasing compensation, just help coping with the disease.
She said: “Football is neglecting these players. One footballer called me after he was diagnosed. All he wanted was help to pay for the funeral so he didn’t force his family into debt. I was in tears.
“But the sporting authorities are more interested in helping players with gambling problems, knee injuries, and arthritis. They aren’t killing hundreds of former players. Dementia is and the authorities are ignoring it.
“Our dream was to have a series of care homes to provide respite or long term care for players – one in the midlands, one up north, and one down south.
“A 1% levy on the wages of current Premier League players would raise millions to do that. Surely today’s players, who have so much money, wouldn’t begrudge that so the players who laid the foundations for everything they have can be properly looked after.”
The Mirror has campaigned for recognition and help for footballers suffering from the condition and their families since revealing three members of the 1966 World Cup winning team had been diagnosed.
As well as Ray Wilson, Martin Peters and Nobby Stiles, at least 375 former players have been diagnosed with dementia.
Last week former Birmingham City star and Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood revealed he has the disease. Dementia killed legends Sir Alf Ramsey, Jimmy Hill, Bob Paisley, Welsh star John Charles, England internationals Nat Lofthouse, Joe Mercer, and Stan Cullis; German great Gerd Muller and Stan Mortensen, the only player to score a hat-trick in an FA Cup final.
Statistics from the Alzheimer’s Society show one in 14 people have dementia by the age of 65. Yet in some teams four or five otherwise fit players develop the disease during their 60s.
Experts fear many of them have CTE, or ‘boxers brain,’ a form of dementia caused by repeated blows to the head, such as heading footballs, but they cannot be tested for the disease until they die.
Former England captain Alan Shearer is leading a BBC investigation into the dangers of heading the ball but football’s wealthy authorities have yet to fund a proper study.
And a draft guidebook, drawn up by the Professional Footballer’s Association (PFA) and seen by the Daily Mirror, makes no mention of CTE or heading footballs.
Dawn, whose dad Jeff is the only player whose brain was tested for CTE after he died, said: “What’s miss-