MPs urged to address ‘scandalous’ dementia support for families of ex-footballers

Campaigners are calling on MPs to help tackle what they say is a "scandalous" lack of funding to support the families of footballers diagnosed with dementia.

Former England stars including Sir Geoff Hurst and Kevin Keegan will be at the House of Commons on Tuesday evening to meet with MPs in support of the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) campaign.

FFJ wants football's new independent regulator to impose a statutory duty on the sport's national authorities to develop a comprehensive dementia strategy, including a substantially increased care fund.

FFJ is headed up by John Stiles, the son of former England and Manchester United midfielder Nobby Stiles who died in October 2020.

A postmortem on 1966 World Cup winner Stiles' brain found he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive head impacts.

John Stiles told the PA news agency that the Brain Health Fund set up by players' union the Professional Footballers' Association was a "smokescreen" and a "PR exercise".

The fund, which was created in September 2023 with the support of the Premier League, was launched with an initial £1m.

"(The fund) is not fit for purpose," Stiles added.

"My dad's care costs were £125,000 - £1m won't even pay for 12 families' care costs for a year. So we want a properly financed fund."

Giving the regulator powers in this area would require an amendment to the Football Governance Bill, which had its second reading in the Commons on Monday.

Stiles accepts the chances of achieving an amendment are "pretty slim" but added: "We can't not go for it because the union isn't helping us. They're not fighting for us.

"The PFA aren't helping us in any way. So we're doing every angle we can to try and get this sorted out."

A number of MPs expressed support for widening the regulator's remit during Monday evening's debate, with Chris Evans, the Labour member for Caerphilly, saying investigating this issue was vital to avoid current England stars like Harry Kane being at risk.

The 2019 FIELD Study, co-funded by the PFA and the Football Association, found footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the population.

Further FIELD Study research published last December found that the increased risk was not driven by general health or lifestyle factors.

Stiles insists the main priority for FFJ is to compel football to urgently provide greater funding to those affected.

"This isn't going away. It's only going to get worse. Families are having to sell their homes to pay for care costs," he said.

"We also want some sort of compensation for widows. What's going on at the moment is scandalous. It's absolutely scandalous.

"Families ring me up and say 'if he goes in a care home, I don't know what we're going to do'. They will be losing their homes. And we know that heading the ball has done it."

The FA and the PFA have been approached for comment.