Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I was on stage with Kevin Keegan and he handed over to me to finish a story. My mind went blank and I just couldn’t remember what happened next
TERRY McDERMOTT is the latest football star to be diagnosed with dementia.
The Kop hero, who won three European Cups and five league titles for Liverpool, has the early stages of
Lewy Body dementia after undergoing a number of tests.
His revelation that he is battling against the degenerative disease comes just days after Manchester United’s Denis Law admitted that he has Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.
But McDermott is determined to carry on with his work as a Liverpool matchday host and has already had numerous messages of support from former Anfield team-mates, some of whom have their own private health issues. He was on duty for yesterday’s game against Burnley, while Liverpool will also offer their help, if it is needed, as football comes to terms with another grim legacy of a star-studded career. A generation of past greats, including England World Cup winners Sir Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, Jack Charlton and Martin Peters, have all been diagnosed with dementia – the last three having passed away. McDermott, whose allaction midfield style is still revered on Merseyside, first feared he had a problem during a talk-in with his great mate and former Newcastle United and England manager Kevin Keegan.
“We were on stage and Kevin was telling a story, and handed over to me to finish it off,” he explained.
“My mind went blank and I said I couldn’t remember what had happened next. The audience started laughing thinking it was part of the act.
“Kevin saved the situation by taking the mickey out of me and continuing himself with the tale, but it left me worrying that something wasn’t right.
“There were a few other instances where I struggled to explain things.”
Urged by his wife Carole to undergo an examination, McDermott – recently dubbed one of Liverpool’s greatest-ever midfielders by Graeme Souness – discovered he had the early stages of Lewy Body dementia, which leads to a decline in thinking and reasoning.
Carole (left, with Terry) added: “It’s not always about forgetting things or not knowing where he is going, it’s more about him getting confused and not explaining properly what he wants to
say. He also worries more. Years ago, he didn’t worry about a thing.
“That’s all part of his condition. He can get anxious about stupid things.”
Terry wonders whether countless games of head tennis with Keegan during their time together as manager and assistant at Newcastle in the 1990s contributed to his condition.
He said: “Kevin and I used to play head tennis, for instance, every day after training. Having said that, most of the players also took part and, to my knowledge, none of that Newcastle team has been affected, so who knows?
“I’ve got to get on with it and I will. It’s the way I’ve been brought up.
“Nothing has come to me easily.
I’m not frightened of taking it on and also, as we’ve seen, there are a lot of former players in a worse state than me. Battling is second nature. The worst thing was, until my condition was diagnosed, you don’t know what’s going on. “The number of ex-players being diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s is frightening.” The news of his condition will shock many in the game who marvelled at his stamina and fitness in the engine room of a Liverpool side, who plundered most of the silverware in the 70s. Many Kop fans believe that his header, following a breathtaking move in the 7-0 thumping of Tottenham Hotspur in 1978, was the club’s greatest-ever goal.
But, with the growing belief that hours of heading a football can impact on a player’s brain and induce dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, English football has introduced new regulations this season.
Professional players are now limited to only 10 ‘higher force’ headers (aerial balls from more than 35 yards) a week during training.
And the PFA are backing research into why footballers are more than three times likely to develop dementia.
McDermott believes being around Anfield on matchdays will help him confront his condition.
“I’ve been looking forward to going down to Anfield and seeing former team-mates, people I have known for years and having a good crack with them,” he admitted.
“Thankfully, there are games coming up regularly now which I can go to.”