With football on the brink of banning heading in youth football, we look at Chris Sutton's furious criticism of the sport's authorities for playing it coy when it comes to supporting families and former professionals diagnosed with dementia.

His story speaks a frightening truth that rings true across rugby, American football, and beyond. No sport is safe from the unseen injuries inflicted on the mind — and the question of how we stop the growing number of former players being diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases years after retiring has never been more urgent.

"The former player-turned pundit and campaigner singled out the Professional Footballers' Association for its procrastination when it comes to helping families of retired players who need round-the-clock care for the incurable, neurodegenerative disease."

Barry Glendenning — The Guardian, December 2020

Coroner Andrew Hague ruled that former England international Jeff Astle had died from "an industrial disease" in 2002, caused by repeatedly heading footballs throughout his career. The FA and PFA immediately promised to prioritise a 10-year study into the links between football and dementia. Those results have never been released.

Dr Willie Stewart, consultant neuropathologist at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and leader of the FIELD study, found that footballers are three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the general population.

Stewart appeared alongside Sutton on Football Weekly, joined by John Stiles — son of Nobby Stiles, World Cup winner with England in 1966. Nobby, who died in October 2020, is one of six players from the 1966 final starting line-up to have been diagnosed with the illness.

"It's not forgetting your fucking car keys. It's not forgetting your wallet, it's not forgetting somebody's name. It is horrific the way the degeneration affects people and those around them. If you see it for real in someone you love, dying the way my dad is dying and others have died, that would change your mind."

Chris Sutton

Sutton — whose father Mike, a former Norwich, Chester and Carlisle player, has dementia and resides in a care home — called on the PFA to acknowledge the mistakes made around dementia and act with transparency without further delay. He also called for immediate introduction of temporary concussion replacements in football, a sport he described as being "in the dark ages" when it comes to head injuries.

He also spoke of his own guilt at encouraging his five sons to practise heading before he became aware of the potential long-term harm it might cause.

The PFA was approached for comment by the Guardian but did not respond.