New rules to be enforced in wake of campaign

The organisation has acted after a study last year linked dementia with heading.

The Sunday Mai l has campaigned for more research to be carried out linking brain damage suffered by ex- players to the

Sunday game. We revealed the dementia battles of a number of former high-profile players in recent years, including Celtic legend Billy McNeil, Rangers icon Eric Caldow and Liverpool hero Peter Cormack. New rules introducing limits on heading the ball for children up to the age of 16 are also being explored.

But those changes are still a long way from being approved.

Former FA cup finalist George Reilly was diagnosed with dementia in his 50s and he welcomed the move. George – who was born in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, and starred for Watford in the 1984 FA Cup f inal against Everton – said: “I’ve always said it’s good to see the football authorities making a move on this issue.

“I’m proud that the SFA and FA will be the first in Europe to look to protect kids, that’s really important. I’m sure kids will adapt to the changes.”

The Sunday Mail first revealed the SFA’s proposed ban last year. A similar ban has been in place in the US since 2015. Discussions have been ongoing since the release of a study in October which found the first links between former players and degenerative brain disease. The resea rch, l ed by Glasgow University’s Dr Wi l l iam McLean, found f o rme r p r o f e s s i o n a l footbal lers were threeand-a-half times more likely to die of degenerative brain disease than people of the same age range in the general population.