FOOTBALL’S DEMENTIA TIMEBOMB
As Jeff Astle’s daughter calls for more help to be given to former players with Alzheimer’s, why have so many footballers been struck down by the cruel disease?
IT IS a condition more commonly associated with boxers, but Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a cause of degenerative brain diseases including Alzheimer’s, Motor Neurone Disease and Parkinson’s, is now being cited behind the rise of dementia in a shocking number of former professional footballers.
CTE is caused by “repeated brain trauma”, or persistent blows to the head. Symptoms generally appear a decade after the trauma occurs and progress from headaches and dizziness to memory loss, speech impediments, movement disorders and full-blown dementia. And it can currently only be diagnosed after death.
The most high-profile player to have been diagnosed with CTE is England and West Bromwich Albion legend Jeff Astle, who died in 2002 aged just 59. By the time he died Astle, who played for England in the 1970 World Cup and scored the winning goal in the 1968 FA Cup Final, couldn’t even remember having played football.
His daughter Dawn believes her father’s condition was caused by repeatedly heading the heavy leather football used in the 1960s and 1970s.
She set up the Jeff Astle Foundation two years ago to raise awareness of the link between the sport and degenerative brain conditions – and is now calling for help from the Football Association for former players affected by dementia. She says: “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.”
As those suffering played in the days before lucrative sponsorship deals, multimillionpound TV rights contracts and astronomical wages, they are finding themselves struggling to cope with the financial burden of their disease.
“The sporting authorities are more interested in helping players with gambling problems, knee injuries and arthritis. However, these aren’t killing hundreds of former players. Dementia is and the authorities are ignoring it,” adds Dawn.
ASTUDY published earlier this year conducted post-mortem examinations on six players who suffered dementia. It found that four of the men had suffered CTE. Lead author Dr Helen Ling, of University College London’s Institute of Neurology, said: “Our findings of CTE in retired footballers suggest a potential link between playing football and the development of degenerative brain pathologies in later life.”
Previous studies have shown that the incidence of CTE in the general elderly population is only 12 per cent. For former professionals the numbers are alarming. At least 375 former professional footballers have been diagnosed with dementia. Among them are three of England’s 1966 World Cup winners – Martin Peters, Nobby Stiles and Ray Wilson, as well as player-turnedmanager Sir Alf Ramsey, who died in 1999. Other legends who succumbed to the disease include former Spurs double-winner Danny Blanchflower, Nat Lofthouse, Bob Paisley, John Charles and Jimmy Hill.
Meanwhile, many others continue to suffer. QPR favourite Stan Bowles, 68, was diagnosed with dementia in 2013 and now lives with his daughter Andria in Manchester. She has relied on donations from fans to pay for his care. And former Blackburn forward Allan Gilliver, 73, developed dementia aged just 64.
Although the Professional Footballers’ Association donated £240 towards physiotherapy sessions after he suffered a stroke, wife Christina now struggles to care for him full-time.
“There are hundreds of footballers my husband’s age who have dementia,” she says. “Are the FA just going to wait until they all die and then say it was caused by heading the ball? Gilly’s dementia is traumarelated, what else can it be?”
Last season, Premier League clubs’ combined income was £3.65billion, with Manchester United alone raking in £515million from ticket sales, merchandise and sponsorship.
But with hundreds of former players unable to pay for the care needed to battle their footballrelated dementia, campaigners are calling for a one per cent levy on the wages of Premier League stars to raise the money needed to look after these former legends. “Wouldn’t it be great if the FA opened a dementia-friendly care home for ex-players?” says Christina Gilliver. “There must be hundreds of players with dementia that no one knows about. It’s sad to think more players will have to die before anything is done. I really hope the FA can be shamed into doing something more, because they can definitely afford it.”
Meanwhile, the FA’s head of medicine Dr Charlotte Cowie said they were “passionate” about addressing the problem and would be funding new research into the risks of heading the ball.