Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FOR YOU, NOBBY
Ex-Boro star Hignett: We need to do this, for ’66 legend Stiles and next generation
BY
IT was a request former Middlesbrough star Craig Hignett could not refuse – the chance to help ensure that England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles’ fight against dementia was not in vain.
After swearing he would never wear a pair of football boots again, at the age of 51 he turned out at National League North Spennymoor Town last Sunday in the country’s firstever game without heading.
The charity friendly, involving ex-players from Middlesbrough and Spennymoor, was to raise awareness of the link between heading a ball and the increasing cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s among past players.
Hignett explained: “Too many former players are being diagnosed with these horrible diseases. Just recently we’ve had Gordon McQueen, a good friend of mine, who is going through a tough time.
“Denis Law has revealed he is suffering. It was the cause of death for Nobby Stiles. His son John Stiles had been on the phone about the game and that’s the reason I played.
“He had spent a couple of years being angry with it all, how it had affected his father and that no one was helping. He was blaming people, but now he just wants to raise awareness of the dangers of heading a football and how it can affect you in future years.”
In the first half, heading was restricted to both penalty areas, but after the break, heading was completely outlawed.
Within the first minute, a free-kick was awarded for a rogue header outside permitted areas. Boro’s academy coach Mark Tinkler, 46, fell foul of the new law.
“He just headed it because it’s ingrained in a defender to do that, it’s been inbuilt over countless years,” Hignett added.
“In the second half, with no heading anywhere, it was like a game of five-a-side football where you have to keep the ball below head height. I don’t think the fans would buy that as a spectacle, to be honest. In terms of providing entertainment, the furthest anyone is likely to go is to just allow headers in the penalty areas.
“Even then I think it would take away something. Football is a game where you can use every part of your body except your hands. Heading is an art. Can you imagine taking that away from
Duncan Ferguson, Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand? When you see someone like Cristiano Ronaldo leaping like he can, it’s a wow factor.
“What was a positive from the game was that it helped bring awareness that there appears to be a link between heading and dementia – and more research is needed.”
Former Boro and Spennymoor defender Bill Gates kicked the game off, but it is doubtful that he will remember much of the day as he suffers from a neurodegenerative disease, which may have links with his professional career.
Hignett said: “He received a standing ovation and hopefully that got through to him what people think about him and how fondly he is remembered. There were TV cameras there, so this experimental game has reached out to a lot of people.
“The main thing is how you coach heading to be safer. You don’t see many kids wanting to head a ball. It’s because football has moved on and it’s not as direct as it once was.”