Souness joins rousing call for dementia fund
A GROUP of 60 former footballers including Graeme Souness, Gary Lineker, Chris Sutton and Alan McInally are calling on authorities to set up a support fund for ex-players suffering from neurodegenerative disease.
The group have come together through the charity, Head for Change, who want to work with the football authorities to formulate a plan to help dementia-stricken players.
They want football’s key stakeholders to take the financial burden off the families of former footballers by paying for residential care — and believe younger players should be educated on the risks that potentially come with playing the game. Sportsmail has been campaigning for football to properly tackle its dementia crisis since last year.
Dr Willie Stewart’s FIELD study found footballers are three-and-ahalf times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease. An extension of that study discovered the risk factor for goalkeepers is indistinguishable from that of the general public but that defenders are five times more likely — findings which suggest a link between heading the ball and dementia.
All 60 players are aged between 30 and 70, placing them in the age bracket where they have already taken on the career risks and could be affected in the future. Other players among the 60 include Kevin Keegan, Terry Butcher, John Aldridge, Alan Shearer, Ray Parlour and Stuart Pearce.
‘They observe the traumatic dementia journey which is robbing many older ex-players of their minds, while knowing they themselves may be living with a ticking time bomb of tau protein spreading through their brain like poison ivy,’ read a statement with the news of the players’ support.
Dr Judith Gates, chairwoman and co-founder of Head for Change, told Sportsmail: ‘There is an immediate need for an interim care fund to fund residential care for ex-players who are suffering from dementia. Head for Change hears reports from many families who are experiencing real difficulties.’
Penny Watson, the wife of former England captain Dave Watson, who is living with dementia, added: ‘I am delighted to be involved with the Head for Change: Together campaign and thrilled that so many former footballers, some of whom Dave had close contact with after he hung up his boots through his business, have put their names to this and support its aims.
‘This is about getting things done, now. It’s remarkable what H4C has achieved in such a short time, so the stakeholders should do the same. Where there’s a will there’s a way.’