World Cup winner's son fears he'll get dementia like dad - as game 'swims in millions'

The cost of caring for footballers with dementia caused by heading the ball could reach £1billion, campaigners have warned.

Now relatives, including the son of England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles, are calling for more support for ex-players living with dementia. A 2021 study found that former professionals were three-and-a-half times more likely than the general population to develop dementia.

For defenders, who are likely to have had more head impacts, the difference was almost five times. Last year, the Premier League and Professional Footballer’s Association pledged £1million for former players living with dementia.

Campaigners welcomed the move but warned the game must go further. John Stiles, who lost dad Nobby to dementia in 2020, said: “ Football is swimming in money yet you have players who’ve given their lives to the game being left without any form of help. It’s a scandal.”

John, who played for Leeds United, now fears he too could develop dementia and is campaigning to educate current players about the dangers of heading footballs.

The 59-year-old said: “This deadly epidemic has to stop. I’ve spoken with loads of former players and many of them are scared stiff. I’m terrified too. I set myself little exercises each day, like trying to finish the crossword.”

John is one of 30 former players who have begun legal action against football’s governing bodies. Last month, sports minister Stuart Andrew said he was putting pressure on the Premier League and the PFA to go beyond the £1m Brain Health Fund they have launched.

He wants them to create a charity with sustainable funding to support former players living with dementia. MPs also called for dementia in sport to be classed as an industrial disease, so retired players could access benefits to pay care costs.

In all, five members of England’s victorious 1966 side developed dementia before their deaths. Ray Wilson died in 2018, Martin Peters in 2019, Nobby and Jack Charlton in 2020, and Bobby Charlton last year.

Bobby and Jack Charlton both developed dementia before their deaths

Judith Gates launched the charity Head Safe Football after her ex- footballer husband Bill was diagnosed with dementia in 2017. A central defender for Middlesbrough, he died last year, aged 79.

Her calculations showed caring for footballers with the disease could cost £1bn over the next 30 years. And some experts fear that current players could be even more susceptible than those in the past, as they are heading balls travelling much faster.

Bill’s story, and the scale of the crisis facing football, are told in a new book, No Brainer, which will be launched this month. Judith said: “Bill was one of the first players to live the millionaire lifestyle, because we ran a chain of sports shops.

“We had a home in the Cayman Islands and a house overlooking a golf course in Florida. But I would have swapped all of it for a healthy husband.

“The Brain Health Fund is an important step but if you were paying the full care costs for 12 players for one year, that would use up the full £1m.

“Bill told me that he didn’t want any more players and their families to suffer like we have. He said he wanted to plant a tree, so others would benefit from the shade.”

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