By Callum Wright
The wife of Notts-born former international footballer Dave Watson says it’s important to find ways of supporting ex-athletes diagnosed with neurological conditions like dementia.
The centre-half, from Stapleford, earned 65 caps for England and played for Notts County across two spells in the 1960s and 1980s.
During his career, he also had stints at Manchester City and Werder Bremen, in Germany, among other clubs.
Now aged 78, he has dementia and has been involved in research with his wife Penny surrounding the impact of professional sports on diagnoses of neurodegenerative conditions.
Their story is one of many shared at an event at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground this week which brought together ex-athletes and their families, experts, academics, and community groups, to discuss how former sports stars can be better looked after.
Speaking at the event, Penny told Notts TV: “We wanted to make [the diagnosis] public in 2020 to give courage to other former players to seek help regarding dementia and not feel ashamed.
“Getting people to find the help and get a proper diagnosis is important, and also to find out what places they can go to with their loved ones to still keep them socialising.
“In the old days, they used to be stuck at home because [of] shame.
“It’s not just for former athletes, it’s for people in the community because we have to remember that some professional sports are still played by amateurs.
“Even if they weren’t getting the same amount of training or concussions they were still getting problems, so the researchers need to nail the diagnosis and show carers what’s available for them and help them get respite.”
The event on Wednesday (October 30) was organised by social scientists from Nottingham Trent University but brought together researchers from across the East Midlands.
It follows research published by the Football Association (FA) and the University of Nottingham in 2023 which revealed 2.8 per cent of retired professional footballers had a neurogenerative disease.
That’s compared with 0.9 per cent in non-players, meaning footballers are more than three times more likely to be diagnosed with health problems.
Researchers are trying to find out whether this is linked to concussions caused by heading the ball.
Dr Christopher Matthews, from Nottingham Trent University, is one of the event’s organisers and a sociologist.
He says pulling all the different voices together will improve the research into helping former athletes.
“We’ve got people from very different parts of the world – senior academics and the next generation of academics, but we’ve also got activists, people who have cared for former athletes with dementia and charities,” he said.
“The reason for that focus is because, when we do the next bit of research, it has to be informed by all those different voices.
“Some evidence suggests [neurological disorders] might not come on in earlier age.
“The specifics of what that population needs, and the information, needs to get out there much more.
“That’s so those people, and also to the clinicians that look after them, can … shape the care around them.”
The event heard some work has been done in Nottingham to help those with neurogenerative conditions in feeling more comfortable at events.
That includes the Trent Bridge Community Trust, which delivers its Forget Me Notts programme.
This aims to support those with dementia and their carers by providing social and sporting activities.
Ian Dipaolo, deputy head of community and development at Trent Bridge, said: “We’re working with over 100 people at the minute, the part where we work with carers is important for us as it lets them engage with the sessions as well.
“We deliver sessions once a week, at the minute in Rushcliffe, where they’ll come to a sports session where they’ll take part [sports like] indoor bowls or badminton.
“Once a month, they’ll also come to Trent Bridge and do a café style event where they can do some quizzes, a bit of bingo and a bit of exercise with it.
“It’s really important that [improving the care for people with dementia] is talked about.
“We see people arriving to our sessions all the time with diagnoses and it’s becoming more prevalent.
“I think the more that it’s talked about and the more people are aware of it, the better.
“It’s important people have that network with [others] who are having the same thing and share their thoughts and ideas.”
The event came just a week after a group of families whose relatives were diagnosed with conditions caused by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) launched legal action over their relatives’ deaths.
CTE is believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head. However, a definitive diagnosis can only be given after death, as it requires analysis of the brain.
That included Sue Bird, wife of former Mansfield Town defender Kevin Bird who died in February 2023 aged 70 – a decade after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease with depression.
Their stories weren’t discussed at the event on Wednesday.
But last week, a spokesperson for the FA said the organisation is taking steps to address and research potential problems associated with heading the ball.
That includes restricting heading in children’s games to shorten the length of time athletes are regularly heading footballs.
The FA said: “We continue to take a leading role in reviewing and improving the safety of our game. This includes investing in and supporting multiple projects in order to gain a greater understanding of this area through objective, robust and thorough research.
“We have already taken many proactive steps to review and address potential risk factors which may be associated with football whilst ongoing research continues in this area, including liaising with the international governing bodies.
