Law the latest legend struck by dementia
Scot seventh member of ’68 United squad to suffer disease Condition has left former striker unable to sign name
Denis Law laid bare his devastating battle with dementia yesterday after becoming the seventh member of Manchester United’s 1968 European Cup-winning squad to be struck down by the disease.
The striker, 81, described his “hard, demanding and painful” path ahead as campaigners piled fresh pressure on authorities to step up efforts to tackle the crisis.
In a statement revealing his turmoil, Law said he has been diagnosed with “mixed dementia” – “in my case this being Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. I am at the point where I feel I want to be open about my condition.”
His diagnosis means that a third of the squad have been living with or lived with dementia – Law missed the final against Benfica at Wembley because of knee surgery.
That dementia figure correlates with research showing that footballers are at a dramatically higher risk – with one in six of those over 80 in the wider community estimated to be suffering with the disease. At 65 and over, the proportion is nearer one in 14.
Law, who was appointed CBE in 2016 for his services to football and charity, pledged to continue to fight to boost awareness around the issue.
“I know the road ahead will be hard, demanding, painful and everchanging and so ask for understanding and patience as this will not be an easy journey, especially for the people who love you the most,” he said.
His condition has advanced to the point where he can no longer sign his name and Law outlined the anger, frustration, confusion and worry that he now feels, particularly for his family.
“This has been an extremely difficult year for everyone and the long periods of isolation have certainly not helped,” he said. “It is an incredibly challenging and problematic disease and I have witnessed many friends go through this.
“You hope that it won’t happen to you, even make jokes about it whilst ignoring the early signs because you don’t want it to be true. You get angry, frustrated, confused and then worried. Worried for your family, as they will be the ones dealing with it. However the time has come to tackle this head on, excuse the pun.”
Law scored 237 goals in 404 appearances for United and the player nicknamed “The King” remains Scotland’s joint-top scorer with 30 goals.
Of Sir Matt Busby’s stellar 1968
squad, Bill Foulkes, David Herd, Tony Dunne, Nobby Stiles, Bobby Charlton and John Fitzpatrick all suffered the same diagnosis in later life.
Law said: “I recognise how my brain is deteriorating and how my memory evades me when I don’t want it to and how this causes me distress in situations that are beyond my control.
“I do understand what is happening and that is why I want to address my situation now, whilst I am able, because I know there will be days when I don’t understand, and I hate the thought of that right now.
“In the height of the pandemic I said I hoped that if one positive was to come out of it, it would be that it would make people kinder to each other, so that’s what I am hoping for now.
“I don’t want people to be saddened if I forget places, people or dates, because you need to remember. I enjoyed all those memories and I am lucky to have experienced what I have in my life … a loving and supportive family, a great career doing what I loved, getting paid to do it and lifelong friends. I have good days and bad days and aim to take each day as it comes, adjusting my lifestyle accordingly.”
Law has previously said that he would get headaches after heading the ball during training and that other players would make fun of him for eventually avoiding headers in practice because he sensed that it was “doing me no good”. He also accused the football authorities of not acting quickly enough on research, following warnings which date back to the mid-1990s.
Peter Mccabe, chief executive of brain injury association Headway,
said: “We know that cause and effect remains difficult to prove, but alongside the growing body of evidence linking heading footballs to degenerative neurological conditions, every tragic announcement of this kind should strengthen our collective resolve to protect future generations from developing dementia as a result of playing football.”
Research by the University of Glasgow found in 2019 that former professionals were around four times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia than the wider population, with ex-players five times more likely to die of Alzheimer’s.
The research studied footballers who played from the 1930s up until the 1990s and has found no reduction in the dementia risk since professional football changed during the late 1970s and early 1980s with a switch from leather balls, which became heavier when wet, to synthetic balls which travel faster. New guidelines in English professional football advise players to limit themselves to 10 “high-impact” headers a week in training.