newusername
Well-known member
I've absolutely massive sympathy for anyone with Alzheimer’s / early onset dementia of any form but get lost with blaming heading a ball.
Dean Windass to sue football authorities
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GibbosEmpire
Well-known member
Has Dean Windass got dementia?
asredastheycome
Well-known member
Would not say Windass was a big header of the ball and neither Joe Kinnear who is mentioned on that twitter page. Its a horrible horrible illness and many people suffer from it as well as footballers and other sportsmen and women. Feel so sad for anyone who gets it. Good luck for the future Dean.
You maybe all need to get hold of No Brainer - the new book by Dr Judith Gates, widow of Bill Gates. There is a mass of evidence now that footballers are subjecting themselves to CTE - Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Incurable brain trauma caused by the ball. An impact injury basically from heading a football. The only problem for the individual being it can only be confirmed in a post mortem.
But the medical evidence is very strong and football authorities have known this for some time.
It is a ticking time bomb claiming victims 20 or 30 years after and we are talking about amateur footballers and professionals alike the incidence of dementia is far higher than the average population. But goalkeepers are the same. Am editing this bit as I didn't make it clear. Goalkeepers have just as much chance as anyone else of getting dementia and outfield player has a far higher incidence. Keepers do not head the ball as a rule.
Sadly, they could hide behind the false hope that it was the old fashioned casey but the speed of modern football seems to also be speeding up the numbers with dementia.
I chatted with Alan Peacock just after his diagnosis and he talked me through just how many of his former Leeds, Boro and England teammates had succumbed to dementia. The science now links this to CTE.
So sad to hear about Dean Windass.
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I just googled to find out a really sad fact. Of the eleven England World Cup heroes of 1966, five of them ended up dying with dementia. A terribly high incidence.
If the science proves it then I think we need to take a good look at the game to see what we can do to mitigate the risk. With respect to Windass's claim, I would think it would only be successful if the Authorities have absolute concrete causational link in their possession and failed to act at all. If the claim only succeeds in making the risk more broadly known and triggers further research it has been worthwhile.
newusername
Well-known member
Now corrected & original tweet deleted...
El Guapo
Well-known member
I have parents with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Neither of them headed a football in their lives. Or boxed. Or played NFL. Or repeatedly head butted a wall. Or did anything repetitive to their heads that would cause such. Neither did my gran who had dementia. They are both awful illnesses but unfortunately we are all born to die of something. As crass as it may sound, but given the above I feel I can say this, I don’t recall any player complaining about playing football and earning their money at the time, so how is it fair to retrospectively sue football authorities or anyone else for something that wasn’t proven or known about or that we hadn’t the science to prove at the time? I simply don’t see how that works, different had the effects of repeatedly banging your head against something been known about and scientifically proven. I don’t understand retrofitting in such circumstances. Football is learning as the science is proven re head injuries as are other sports with head contacts and rules will be adjusted no doubt to try to avoid these things going forward and to help make it safer / try to eradicate dangers. It’s all football can do. It can’t turn back time as nothing can. It also cannot change the fact we will all die of something regardless of how ‘safely’ we conduct our lives or try to sanitise life.
Anyway, given my family history, I hope I go out like a light. Not yet though obvs.
Anyway, given my family history, I hope I go out like a light. Not yet though obvs.
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Gunslinger
Well-known member
If i have a heart attack 5 minutes after having an orange juice can i sue fruit pickers?
Correlation and causation, two entirely different animals
Correlation and causation, two entirely different animals
Gunslinger
Well-known member
Or it could just be that people of that age have a really high prevalence of some form of brain degredation or another
And if scientific studies showed an increaed probabilty that when you hit 70 you get a brain disease do you think it would stop young lads giving up beign a pro footballer
to pursue another career?
Norman_Conquest
Well-known member
Alan Shearer did a documentary about Dementia in football that is well worth a watch before you dismiss it.
Alan Shearer: Dementia, Football and Me Documentary 2017
Documentary in which former England international footballer Alan Shearer investigates the potentially devastating link between football and dementia. Recent...
www.youtube.com
BernieisGod
Well-known member
I wonder why Keepers are the same?
Do they take that many blows to the head? I accept they probably take a few and Cech obviously had a really bad one, but seems a bit odd that?
viv_andersons_nana
Well-known member
If Neil Lennon ends up with dementia then maybe Alan Shearer could end up in court…Alan Shearer did a documentary about Dementia in football that is well worth a watch before you dismiss it.
Alan Shearer: Dementia, Football and Me Documentary 2017
Documentary in which former England international footballer Alan Shearer investigates the potentially devastating link between football and dementia. Recent...
On the serious side, anyone with doubts about this should listen to Chris Sutton talking about his dad suffering from dementia. It’s absolutely heartbreaking hearing him describe what happened to his dad and the effect it had oh their family.
r00fie1
Well-known member
Watson has neurodegenerative disease
Ex-England captain Dave Watson has a neurodegenerative disease which his wife believes was most likely brought on by head injuries and repeated heading of the ball.
www.bbc.co.uk
Dave Watson: Ex-England skipper may have same disease as Jeff Astle had.....
r00fie1
Well-known member
Just to add, Davids wife, Penny Watson, is a tireless campaigner..........and a Consultant with the Professional Footballers Association:
* Take it from me, she is extremely passionate about the issue of football and brain injuries.
Penny Watson is the wife and carer of the former England footballer, Dave Watson, who years ago was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease. Since announcing this publicly February 2020 Penny has become a tireless campaigner for help for the families on this same journey. She has also been described as an activist due to her passion about this whole topic. Over a year ago Penny agreed to become an Independent Consultant for the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) with the hope of being able to make a difference. With expertise of strategic planning gained during her years working at director level in commerce and industry her opinion was welcomed particularly with the setting up of the new Neurodegenerative Disease Department. Penny also began training to be a nurse in the 70s but this was abandoned due to her husband’s football career but the desire to help others remained constant. She is also a published author.
[ https://www.eastcheshirehospice.org.uk/penny-watson/]
* Take it from me, she is extremely passionate about the issue of football and brain injuries.
Sorry, I mean goalkeepers are not like outfield players, keepers have the same prevalence of dementia as everyone else. They don't head the ball. That is the difference.
The Card Cheat
Well-known member
So a Goalkeeper is as likely to have dementia as a bricklayer, lawyer, teacher etc, but an outfield player who heads the ball tens of thousands of times in matches and training is far, far more likely than the average person to get Alzheimer's?
Yes that is right far far more likely to get a form of dementia - and what the studies are pointing to is it is increasingly likely to be CTE. A trauma to the brain.
Head Safe Football set up by Dr Judith Gates
headsafefootball.org.uk
Head Safe Football - CTE the elephant in the room
Head Safe Football is a unique charity focusing on football related brain disease, particularly CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). Established at the request of the footballing community, Head Safe Football provides emotional and practical support, evidence-based knowledge and up to date...
headsafefootball.org.uk
Footballers 50% more likely to develop dementia, study finds.
Really sad outcome to a study from 2024 in Sweden.
Footballers 50% more likely to develop dementia, study finds
Neurodegenerative disease diagnosed in 9% of players in Sweden’s top men’s division compared with 6% of control sample
www.theguardian.com