Alan Shearer raps FA and PFA for failing to tackle football’s dementia crisis after heading the ball 150 times a day
Sport's rulers have only just agreed to fund research into the danger of heading footballs - 15 years after a coroner ruled such an incident led to ex-England star Jeff Astle's death
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ALAN SHEARER has criticised football’s authorities over the game’s dementia crisis.
The former England skipper fears he may be at risk after heading the ball up to 150 times a day in training during his career.
Shearer, 47, said: "Nowhere near enough research has been done.
"The authorities have been reluctant to find out answers. They have swept it under the carpet, which is not good enough.
"For every goal I scored with a header during a game, I must have practised it 1,000 times in training. That must put me at risk if there is a link.
"Never did I think playing football could be linked to having a brain disease. That is why the research has to be done."
SunSport columnist Shearer has been investigating the matter for a BBC documentary, which airs on Sunday.
And he also believes the FA and PFA have neglected their duty of care for former footballers, including 1966 World Cup winner Nobby Stiles, who has Alzheimer’s and lives in a care home.
He added: “Football must look after old players who are suffering with dementia — put an end to the sense that once you are done playing, you can be put on the scrapheap.”
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AHEAD of Sunday's documentary, SunSport's Dave Coverdale caught up with Premier League legend Shearer to find out why he decided to investigate football-related dementia, and learn of the England icon's own fears.
ALAN SHEARER was on a plane to America when he began wondering what he and other former footballers might have suffered by playing the game they love.
The Newcastle and England legend was watching the in-flight film Concussion, Will Smith’s biopic about a doctor who studied brain damage in the NFL.
And it was then that he grew determined to shine the spotlight on a subject he believes his sport has “swept under the carpet”.
The result is Alan Shearer: Dementia, Football and Me — and it will make uneasy viewing for the powers that be this Sunday.
Shearer, 47, told SunSport: “The main reason for doing this programme was to make sure the authorities could no longer run away from this issue.
“That is what I believe they have done for the past 15 years.
“There is no doubt it has been swept under the carpet.”
The link between dementia and football first came to the public’s attention in 2002 after the death of former England and West Brom star Jeff Astle at the age of 59.
An inquest ruled Astle died from “industrial disease” — or brain trauma caused by repeatedly heading footballs.
Yet, 15 years later, the FA and PFA are no closer to knowing the impact heading a ball has on the brain and only this year have they finally committed to research.
Shearer said: “When Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch at Tottenham, within six months every football club had a defibrillator and every player is now sent for checks on their heart — and rightly so.
“But when Jeff Astle died in 2002, a coroner ruled his death was because of football.
“Now we are in 2017, 15 years later, and nothing has been done, which is pretty terrible. If the authorities had looked into the issue back then, they might actually have found there isn’t a direct link to heading.
“But nobody has looked into it yet so we do not know.
“It could be a game changer if they find something.”
Shearer, who scored 46 of his 260 Premier League goals with his head, has had worries about his own long-term health.
The documentary films him having an MRI scan.
And the former England captain said: “My family are always telling me how terrible my memory is.
“I don’t know whether it is, or maybe it’s just because I don’t listen! But I was concerned.
“Just before I went in for the MRI, doctors said to me, ‘You do realise if we do find anything wrong in this brain scan, we are going to have to tell you?’.
"I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m not sure I actually want to know if there is something right or wrong’. I was very nervous and apprehensive.”
The programme features powerful scientific evidence, including when Shearer undergoes tests to show the instant impact heading the ball has on the brain.
It also looks at the differences between a modern football and the old-style leather ball, finding the latter used to almost double in weight when wet, making it more dangerous.
But the most moving scenes come when he meets dementia sufferers and their families.
These include Astle’s daughter Dawn — a leading campaigner — and John Stiles, whose 1966 World Cup-winning dad Nobby now lives in a care home after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 15 years ago.
Shearer also visits sufferer Matt Tees, a former Scottish striker best known for his time at Grimsby.
His most emotional encounter though is with Chris Nicholl, his first manager at Southampton.
Shearer admitted: “That was difficult because he was the man who gave me my big break, my debut at 17.
";He taught me so much when it came to heading. He would be in the gym at Southampton chucking balls in the air for me to constantly head.
“But he lives on his own now and forgets where he lives.
“It was very hard to see how he is and how Matt Tees is.
“Hearing how angry Dawn Astle and John Stiles are, to see how they have suffered and struggled over the years, was very difficult.
“Before I spoke with Dawn, I was aware of the Jeff Astle situation. But it was only afterwards that I realised Dawn and her family have been through sheer hell.
“I can see why football is reluctant to change its rules on heading.
“But there is also the question of the duty of care — players who really aren’t that old are going into care homes to die.
“Football must look after old players with dementia and put an end to this sense that once you are done with playing, you can be put on the scrapheap.”
The hour-long documentary goes on to show Shearer grill PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor and the FA’s head of medicine Dr Charlotte Cowie.
After increasing pressure, the FA and PFA announced in March they would jointly commission a “study into the long-term effects of head injuries in football”.
They invited researchers to submit proposals to answer the question of whether degenerative brain disease is more common in footballers, the chosen project being announced soon.
Shearer added: “There is enough money in football, just not enough of it has been given to research.
“I was told it will cost about £500,000 to get the research done. Some players earn that a week now so, in the grand scheme of things, it is not a lot of money.
“I’m delighted it is happening now but, let’s be honest, it should have happened years and years ago.
“That’s why the families of those suffering are angry. They’ve been a lone voice and nobody has been listening to them.
“Hopefully my voice and this programme will help ensure that in ten or 15 years’ time they might have more answers.”
- Alan Shearer: Football, Dementia and Me is on BBC One this Sunday at 10.30pm.
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