Cruel legacy for football brothers
I KNOW only too well the importance of Sportsmail’s campaign to tackle football’s dementia scandal. My husband Hugh is the youngest of five brothers. The three who were professional footballers have all been struck down with Alzheimer’s disease. The eldest, John, played for Tottenham Hotspur in the early Sixties. He had the disease for ten very long years during which he was nursed by his wonderful wife, Mary. Ironically, the order of service at his funeral featured a picture of him leading out Spurs while carrying the old-fashioned football linked to this terrible disease. This leather, stitched ball became sodden and even heavier during a match. Heading such a football was the equivalent of being punched by a heavyweight boxer. Another brother, George, played in the Sixties for Dundee United and St Johnstone. He’s had Alzheimer’s for ten years and is being cared for by his selfless wife Lina. That care is exhausting, never-ending, hard work 24/7. My husband Hugh played from the Sixties to the early Seventies as a forward for Leeds, Bristol Rovers, Stockport County, Chester and Halifax Town. Playing for Chester in 1964-65, he was part of the forward line that scored more than 100 league goals. He was a member of the team that narrowly lost to Manchester United, featuring George Best and Bobby Charlton, in the FA Cup. Hugh was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last February. His psychiatrist told us he is treating three other former professional footballers in the North-West. Hugh always paid his monthly fees to the Professional Footballers’ Association, but I am sorry to say this trades union has been absolutely dreadful, dismissing these brothers in their hour of need. Not one penny has been given to ease their suffering. Respite care could allow their wives an uninterrupted night’s sleep, something we can only dream of.