Dad is a big character... was always bubbly but that’s gone ..he doesn’t know who I am any more
WE NEED TO HELP VICTIMS Scott reveals Jimmy’s sad dementia decline
Scott Calderwood believes it’s imperative football’s authorities further explore links between the sport and dementia.
His dad Jimmy spent eight years at Birmingham City in the 70s as a player then moved on to Dutch football before becoming a coach.
The former Aberdeen, Dunfermline and Kilmarnock boss was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six years ago.
And Scott – now a coach himself in Holland – insists it’s vital that research continues to determine whether heading a ball causes long-term damage to the brain.
Last week PFA Scotland launched PREVENT, a link-up with Glasgow and Edinburgh universities aimed at testing former players.
And Calderwood said: “When my dad was a player back in his day they were using heavy balls on poor pitches.
“Now it seems that a lot of players of his age are suffering from dementia. So of course we have to explore the links between the two.
“Heading is a huge part of the game. But it can’t be good, being constantly hit on the head. It’s important we test a lot of players from that generation to find answers and look at ways of helping.
“It’s great that the SFA have taken steps to ban heading in kids’ training from Under-12s down.
“It’s being talked about in Holland too and I expect more studies on it over here to come.”
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has taken the fight to the English FA after losing his dad to the illness.
And Calderwood believes not enough is being done to help the older generation of players and coaches who are now suffering from the illness.
He said: “My dad wasn’t in the game, certainly as a player, when there was a lot of money around. He didn’t earn what players and managers are earning now.
“Of course, he did well for himself as a coach at big clubs.
“But I still think the authorities have to do more for people like him. They’ve been role models in their professional life, for clubs, for cities, for countries.
“So the associations have to look at what they can do to help more, especially for people like my dad who have been in the game for so long.”
I tried to be Par like my old man
Scott Calderwood is determined to emulate his dad Jimmy by one day being a boss in Scotland.
The 43-year-old is currently working at Dutch club Den Bosch but is keen to return home at some point in his career.
He was pipped by John Hughes to become gaffer at Dunfermline, the club that Jimmy led to their highest top-flight finish and a Scottish Cup Final.
With his dad now in hospital suffering from dementia, Scott said: “I hope to work in Scotland and hopefully dad’s still with us. It would be a dream come true.
“I want to follow in his footsteps. That’s why I applied for the Dunfermline job. He was really popular and I’d have loved to follow him by being the manager there.”
Scott Calderwood wanted to retrace his steps.
After a drink in Govan’s Fairfield Club, he goes up on to Craigton Road and along Edmiston Drive to Ibrox.
The familiar route evokes lots of memories. As a kid he’d often do that 10 -minute walk with dad Jimmy and grandad Jim to see Rangers play.
It’s not the same now though. And the void will never be filled.
Not while his old man is lying in a hospital, oblivious to who his son is.
Tragically, that’s the reality for Calderwood.
In his prime, Jimmy was one of Scottish football’s most colourful characters.
Within the game, an ambitious, tactically- innovative, risk- taking coach at Dunfermline, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Ross County.
And on the outside, funny and full of life. He was a storyteller.
Now there’s just a blankness behind his eyes. No memory of being a top manager. No recollection of his achievements. Nothing.
That’s what being gripped by dementia does to you.
And for the family members every visit breaks their heart that little bit more.
It’s just six years since Jimmy was diagnosed with young onset Alzheimer’s.
Even in 2017, he spoke openly about raising awareness of the illness.
But in the last 12 months his condition has deteriorated rapidly.
Scott, a coach himself in Holland, gets back to Glasgow as much as he can to see him.
He’d love nothing more than to be a sponge in his dad’s company.
Soaking up all the experience, knowledge and nous from a near 50-year career in the game.
But that’s not possible. Instead, all he can do is talk about football and hope it triggers something, anything, in Jimmy.
Last week Scotland legend Colin Hendry spoke openly about his dementia fears. That’s why he’s signed up for PFA Scotland’s PREVENT initiative, which involves the testing of former players to explore links to the sport.
Now Scott wants to raise awareness further by talking about his dad’s plight, which will devastate those who know him.
In an exclusive interview with MailSport, he said: “My dad doesn’t know who I am now. He has really struggled for the last few years.
“In the last couple of months the decline has been so quick. He doesn’t know anyone, doesn’t recognise people. You just see a different man. “My dad is a big character, always bubbly. But that’s gone now. It’s unbelievable.
“You can see a difference in his face. But it’s more in his mind. You get very little response from him. When you’re talking to him you just think: ‘ He’s not here.’ That’s really difficult for me. “He’s in a hospital with other dementia sufferers and has fallen over a few times. He’s not in a good state. “I came over to visit him the week of the Rangers v Ross County game at Ibrox a couple of weeks ago.
“I couldn’t get over from Holland before that because of Covid. “I wasn’t able to see him for about a year, which was really tough. Before, I’d be over every month. “But I was there for four days and took a walk down memory lane, doing the same walk to Ibrox we did when I was a boy. It was tough.
“I can st i l l remember that walk clearly. It’s always been there and no one can take t ho s e memories away. But it was strange that day. “I’d also been doing my Pro Licence coaching badges with the SFA but I couldn’t discuss any of it with my dad.
“We had a conference with David Moyes and I told my dad about it that night. He just looked at me.
“All he could say was: ‘Great guy.’ That was it. “Normally he’d start talking about him, give me anecdotes about when he wa s i n Da v id ’ s company. “There was nothing. Every name like that I mention, he just says: ‘Great guy.’ Everyone’s a great guy.
“I would have loved nothing more than to talk to him about the course, ask about formations and systems and coaching.
“Not being able to do that is tough because of the bond we had.
“When we were together it was probably 80 per cent about football and 20 per cent about life.
“When I was over recently it shocked me. I tried to speak to him about Rangers or Aberdeen but he doesn’t know anything about them.
“You just think: ‘ Wow.’ He used to have so much knowledge.
“I had a wee Rangers teddy bear in my car. I’d taken it off my grandad when he passed away and I’ve always had it.
“I took it up and gave it to my dad, in the hope of triggering something. He took it off me but nothing. It’s difficult every time I go to see him.”
Calderwood senior was a top-level coach as recently as 2014 with Dutch side De Graafschap.
The Netherlands was his second home, with Jimmy spending 15 years there as a player and manager.
The signs of dementia were there but Scott didn’t want to acknowledge them. Instead they’d have a laugh at his dad’s forgetfulness.
In his own mind,Scott believed the illness would only really impact his dad in his 70s or 80s. Now, he’s facing up to the fact that, at 66, Jimmy’s life is merely an existence.
Scott said: “My dad always used to know where he was going when he was on the road in the car.
“All of a sudden, he started having to look at signs and directions. He’d never been like that.
“We’d make a joke about it, not thinking anything of it.
“Then we were in Holland together one day and he forgot to take his money out of the cash machine.
“My dad used to love spending his money. So we’d wind him up, saying he’d never forget t o c ol l e c t hi s cash. Look i ng back, that was the start of it, the early stages.
“At that point, you tell yourself it won’t come to anything bad. But then he’d start asking you the same question over and over again.
“When it’s you he’s talking to, you don’t recognise it as much.
“But when he was doing that with the kids, it was really noticeable. He’d ask them the same question he’d asked them 10 minutes ago.
“That’s when it really started to accelerate. Even when it kicked in properly, I didn’t want to accept that he wouldn’t work in football again.
“I didn’t want to see that happening to him. In the early stages you don’t know much about the illness.
“You think it’ll only get worse when he’s 70- odd or 80. Now I know that’s not the case at all.”
Jimmy was hugely successful as a manager in Scotland. A promotion with the Pars, their highest ever top-flight finish and a Scot t ish Cup Final.
The group stages of the UEFA Cup with Aberdeen then saving Killie from relegation. But for Scott, his short spell at Ross County will always be special –because he got the gig as his dad’s assistant.
Now it’s the chats, the advice and laughter that he misses most.
He said: “It’s the little bits of wisdom and humour, that’s what I really miss.
“Now as a coach, I’ll have decisions to make and think: ‘ What would my dad do?’ It’s strange because I’m thinking like that and he’s still here.
“But the truth is he’s not here. I want to phone him but I don’t get my dad on the other end.
“Being at a professional club together, like we were at Ross County, was amazing.
“Around the time he was diagnosed, I was starting to build my own career as a coach. I was hoping to get knowledge from him, just like I’d do with any other manager.
“But because he was my dad I knew I could trust him. And he didn’t have the career he had without knowing the game. So I wanted to quiz him on t h i n g s but slowly that started fading away.
“I jus t wasn’t able to do that
any more.”
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You his it’s just mind
. ‘ He’s think not : It’s di here .’ fficu lt