IT’S THE TIME TO MAKE HEADLINES

MATT Bloomfield insists he will do everything in his power to raise awareness of the dangers of head injuries in football after being forced to hang up his boots on medical grounds.

The all-action midfielder became a Wycombe Wanderers legend by making 551 first-team appearances after signing from Ipswich in 2003. He helped keep the Chairboys in the Football League in 2014 and went on to captain them to promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history in 2020.

Although he turns 38 on Tuesday, Bloomfield had been keep to keep on playing for the Bucks club, but the latest concussion of many in his career, against Exeter in the Carabao Cup in August, meant he had to call time.

He recalled: “JJ (Joe Jacobson) went to take a quick freekick, but it struck me on the back of the head and knocked me to the ground.

“The repercussions lasted for a good few weeks. It affected my mood, my energy levels, my fatigue levels were high.

“I struggled to see light in some of the things that usually give me great delight in my life. Even little tasks seemed harder than what they should have been.

Experts

“I knew it was a different concussion to what I had suffered in the past. I saw a few different medical experts and garnered opinion, and the opinion was that I couldn’t take any chances with my future brain health.”

Since then, Bloomfield has been coaching alongside manager Gareth Ainsworth and assistant boss Richard Dobson. It’s allowed him to gradually get used to the idea of not playing again – and also strengthened his desire to help players who have suffered from, or potentially could suffer from, the affects of head injuries.

“I’m really passionate about trying to help,” said Bloomfield. “There’s risk attached to anything in life and in football we can’t take that risk away. I’m not going to sit here and say there shouldn’t be any heading. What I would like to see is more money dedicated to research so players know if they have a head injury exactly where they stand in terms of their future brain health.

“I would like for there to be more education to current players. I know that over the years I’ve had to learn - my reaction every time has been ‘don’t get me off, I want to play on, I need to play’.

“It’s also about helping former players. Footballers are three and a half times more likely to get dementia than the average man on the street so the risks are there.

Platform

“I believe there should be a

PICTURE: Alamy certain level of help. My grandad didn’t play football but he suffered with dementia at the end of his days. It’s something that scares me of what might be in future life.

“I’m fortunate to have a bit of a platform to promote this subject so if I can help the next generation of footballers even more than the current generation, that’s what I would like to do.”

Bloomfield is open to the idea of taking part in studies in the future and has welcomed the news that a dedicated care department for former players living with neurodegenerative disease has been set up by the Professional Footballers’ Association.

“If there’s anything out there that I could do to help, I would certainly be more than willing,” added Bloomfield, who said he had had five concussions in the last four years plus a few more before that.

“I’ve had a conversation with Maheta Molango, the PFA chief executive. They have just opened up a new department at the PFA so he has asked me if I would help with that. I would be more than delighted to do that and to try to raise as much awareness as I can around this subject and keep pushing it forward. We can’t have a discussion one day and it’s all forgotten - it needs to keep being

pushed.”