I suffered from concussion so often I forgot the scoreline

There were five or six games in my career where I did not know the score the following morning. I said to my wife, “I don’t remember it”.

I did not get concussion a handful of times. It was dozens. Maybe 50 times and I played on with it. I would have a kaleidoscope sensation around my eyes, but being injured and then playing on happened all the time.

I was punched off the ball on my debut. Bang. Out of the blue. It was a proper punch on the temple. He did not knock me out, but he could have. That was life back then – there were elbows and punches.

You could get hurt regularly and it was not just the heading that was a concern. Very few in the game talked about the impact of head injuries and it should have been dealt with. I think it was swept under the carpet.

I used to discuss the issue at length with Kevin Moore, my old Southampton team-mate. Kevin died aged 55 in 2013 after developing a rare form of dementia. I remember Kevin bringing it up with me.

He was a very bright lad and I was one of six players on the Professional Footballers’ Association committee.

I do remember mentioning it and Gordon Taylor’s response, whenever I raised anything of a medical nature, was inclusive. My experience was that Gordon dealt very thoroughly with things you brought up. It is easy to look back, but I do think the governing bodies should have taken more of a look at it. I am glad that the research has started.

It is a very serious issue that needs resolving. I am not sure about banning heading among youngsters, but limiting the amount of heading is something that needs to happen.