You try to hide it at first but you’ve just got to get on with things... I can have a moan but I’ve had a wonderful life in football

JIMMY CALDERWOOD ON THE NEWS HE IS BATTLING ALZHEIMER’S

Am I afraid? I’m not really a person who is scared of anything I would hope people will treat me the same

TEN seasons ago, Jimmy Calderwood was jousting with giants as he became the only non-Old Firm manager to lead a Scottish team through the group stage of the Europa League or UEFA Cup.

As Aberdeen swept aside FC Copenhagen 4-0 in December 2007 to clinch a glamour last-32 tie with German giants Bayern Munich, a thrilling night was made memorable by his attacking side’s lack of fear.

It was a mindset the young Calderwood had first grown up with in gallus Govan of the 1960s. A fearless nature was also prevalent in Dutch football when he arrived at Sparta Rotterdam in 1979; the start of an association with Holland that hugely shaped the rest of his playing and coaching career.

One of Scottish football’s most popular characters, Calderwood was yesterday drawing on his natural bravery more than ever as he fronted up to the toughest fight of his life.

At 62, Calderwood is living with younger onset Alzheimer’s Disease. But just as his highlyentertaining Dunfermline and Aberdeen sides refused to sit back, this is a battle the courageous coach is meeting in typical head-on fashion as he aims to help raise awareness and aid others in a similar position.

‘Am I afraid? I’m not really a person who is scared of anything,’ said Calderwood, solemnly.

‘Is it hard to admit you have an issue like this? Yes, you try to hide it at first. I was a big bit sad when I found out. It was hard but then you’ve just got to get on with it. That’s the way life is.

‘I can have a moan, as many of my players would say, but I’ve had a wonderful life in football.

‘I’ve been all over the world 10 times over and it hasn’t cost me a ha’penny, which isn’t bad for a wee boy from Govan.

‘Football has been my life and it has been a wonderful life. I feel great at the moment. Strangely, it hasn’t been too bad. We will see how it goes.

‘But the message I want to get over to others is not to be afraid — to come forward and talk about it. That’s exactly why we are here today. If I can help other people by speaking out about this, then that would be fantastic.’

Calderwood’s condition first came to light over two years ago when partner Yvonne noticed he was getting ‘a wee bit forgetful’.

A man who had stepped in to help Kilmarnock (2010) and Ross County (2011) escape relegation since leaving Aberdeen, it took a while before Calderwood reluctantly accepted his career in the dugout was over.

But an appearance on television as a talking head for last April’s Scottish Cup semi-final between Aberdeen and Hibs was a source of bitter regret.

‘I felt that wasn’t right and I shouldn’t have done that,’ said Calderwood, who also coached Dutch sides Willem II Tilburg, NEC Nijmegen, Go Ahead Eagles and De Graafschap.

‘I was really angry with myself. It was probably two, two-and-a-half years ago that I started to notice it and it has got worse since then, forgetting things and such.

‘I was still putting myself forward for jobs. I knew I was ill but I was still going to watch football and you think you can do it.

‘Who knows if that was the case or not? Eventually, I made the decision; the game’s finished for me. But I enjoyed it all because I just love the game.

‘Getting promotion with Dunfermline, saving Kilmarnock (below) on the last day of the season.

‘I got sacked for a couple of things I don’t think I should have got sacked for. Aberdeen (in 2009) was the hardest one. We got back into Europe and the chairman still decided to make a change. That still annoys me…’

His successful career in the technical area may now be over but Calderwood can be found at Ibrox every second week as a Rangers season-ticket holder.

‘I think I should take my season tickets back,’ he grinned after last weekend’s 3-2 home loss to Hibs.

‘I can’t believe I’ve spent money on them…’

Only family and close friends knew he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s before yesterday’s announcement in Glasgow city centre. But Calderwood hopes that those in the game he crosses paths with from now on will treat him just the same as they always have.

‘It’s always been great when I see former players. I saw Ryan Jack at Ibrox the other day. He is at Rangers now but he was a kid at Aberdeen when I was there. He was just coming through alongside Fraser Fyvie (now at Dundee United),’ he said.

‘Jacko was fantastic with me. I hope when people see me (now) they don’t say: “There’s Calderwood, I don’t want to talk to him”. I would hope people would treat me the same as they always have. But I think it will be all right.’

Calderwood’s decision to speak out was partially to control the narrative. But it was also influenced by his former Sparta Rotterdam team-mate Wout Holverda having advanced dementia at the age of just 59.

‘Wout is in a very bad way. He is far gone,’ he nodded, sadly. ‘I have probably had to learn about Alzheimer’s because I didn’t know much about it at all before my diagnosis.

‘Getting your head around it and accepting it is the most important thing. I then had to sit down and tell my family and that was a difficult conversation to have. But it was a lot harder for everyone else than it was for me, I think.’ His partner Yvonne added: ‘He was forgetting things but it was happening more and more often and I thought he should go and see someone. I just knew something wasn’t right. ‘But very seldom does he forget anything about football: goals, who is playing, when they are playing. His memory for that is unbelievable. And when he is talking on the phone to his Dutch friends — fluent. He never pauses or stumbles. It’s very smooth.’

‘My Dutch is better than my Scottish,’ Calderwood interjected.

And so, with their sad news now in the public domain, the couple leave, preparing to jet out on a foreign break to unwind.

In the battle that lies ahead, rest assured the warmth aimed towards the courageous 62-yearold from across the Scottish game will rival that of the blazing hot Cape Verde sun that awaits him on holiday.

Anyone who is concerned about dementia, or would like to find out about help or support in their local area, should call Alzheimer Scotland’s Freephone Dementia Helpline on 0808 808 3000*