‘I never thought playing
Leek legend keen to highlight dementia in ex-players
STEVE Norris was surrounded by trees and didn’t know which way to turn.
He had been in the location close to his Meir Heath home plenty of times, but on this occasion he felt scared.
It was an early sign that something wasn’t right with the Leek Town legend.
Norris, aged 61, has been diagnosed with dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) - and the fact he has clarity shines through as he speaks during an hour-long interview.
Dementia runs in the family, while year after year of heading a football has ultimately taken its toll.
But he remains haunted by the day he couldn’t work out which way led him back to the home he shares with wife Kerry.
“We have always had dogs. I walk through Hilderstone Level and there’s a care home. Behind that is a wood - or a copse really, it’s not that big,” recalls Norris.
“I do walks in there and the dog has a run around. In the first lockdown, before I had a proper diagnosis, I got lost in that little wood.
“I was thinking ‘don’t be stupid’ but I didn’t recognise the place or how to get out. I had been there at least once a week for ages.
“There’s two paths in and out and I didn’t know which way to go. That was a scary experience.
“That’s the only time that dementia has frightened me. But I’ve been told to keep active and I walk the dog for two-and-a-half hours a day. It helps my mental health.”
Norris is at the start of a new journey - but for a time he didn’t know what was affecting him.
But he says persistence paid off for himself and wife Kerry when they finally were given firm news.
“You know in yourself something isn’t right. Probably my wife spotted it more than me,” said Norris, who has two children.
“People do lose their car keys, but after a while when it’s happened more and more, it can’t just be down to a bit of memory loss.
“I worked in the fire service for 30 years and at the same time played non-league football. I took retirement and then went in to working with housing charities, particularly people that were homeless.
“I did that for three or four years and then changed jobs - something in the same mould.”
Norris was - and still is - a huge fans’ favourite at Leek Town, making 393 appearances across two spells.
He initially joined Leek from Port Vale on loan in 1978 and after a stint away from the club returned to help them to the league title in 1990 as well as playing in their 3-0 FA Trophy defeat by Barrow at Wembley.
Norris managed the club in 1994/95 in the Southern League, finishing in seventh place, before departing. “When I was in the fire service I played football for them and the England fire service, GB fire service and travelled to Europe to play football for them,” he added.
“I played at school and sixth form and had the idea of being a PE teacher. I got a trial for England Under-19 Schools and made the side and played three times for them.
“I then had a cracking game in a Sentinel Shield final and Port Vale came knocking.
“I gave up my place at teacher training college and got an 18-month contract at Vale. In the last six months I wasn’t getting any football, so went to Leek on loan.
“It was a shock at the Vale. I had been used to playing football with my mates, but here I was as a pro doing it for a living.
“It was too big a gap at the time. If I had gone to non-league first and then to pro, it might have been different.”
Leek Town fans, though, will be pleased that Norris spent his best years plying his trade at Harrison Park.
He also had spells at Kidsgrove, Winsford and Eastwood Hanley.
“Football was all I ever wanted to do. The fire service were good to me. There were plenty of times I wriggled out of a shift to play football,” he laughed.
“When I was at Hanley fire station we had plenty of Sunday morning footballers. So they’d do my Saturday shift so I could play and then I’d do their Sunday morning so they could.
“I went to Leek to play under Paul Ogden, he was the first proper football manager I had seen. Oggie was one of those who if you had two bad games you were out.