Dean Windass 'worried sick' after dementia diagnosis as David Beckham gets behind cause

Former Premier League striker Dean Windass has been diagnosed with dementia at the age of just 55, with professional footballers more than three and a half times more likely to develop the syndrome

Former professional footballer Dean Windass is “worried sick” after being diagnosed with ‘stage two dementia’, it has been revealed.

He is believed to be one of the first Premier League players to have been hit by the disease. Ex Manchester United defender, David May, 54, revealed the news on BBC Breakfast on Friday, as he called for action to stop ex footballers suffering.

David told the BBC how he spoke to Hull City legend Dean on Thursday, explaining: “I only spoke to Dean Windass yesterday…I spoke to Deano. I asked him how he was, he's been diagnosed with stage two dementia and he is the same age as me and he’s worried sick about how it is going to be in the future for him. “

He said he was revealing the news because Dean had shared it with him to get the message “out there.” There are currently around 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK. But former professional footballers are more than three and a half times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia - compared to the general population.

The FA brought in a new rule to try and phase out deliberate heading in youth football games around England but campaigners want to see more done. David was speaking alongside the son of 1966 England World cup hero Nobby Stiles who told viewers how football had ‘killed’ his dad.

Manchester United legend Stiles died in 2020 aged 78, having lived with dementia for a number of years. A post mortem revealed he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative brain disease associated with repeated head traumas.

His son John, 60, from Doncaster, who heads up the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) group, who is an ex-Leeds Utd and Doncaster Rovers player, told how his dad started losing his memory in his early 60s, late 50s. He pointed out: “The disease that killed him is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)…. that’s what killed my father. We’ve proved it categorically.”

“My blood boiled. I was angry because he received no help,” he said of finding out his dad had died of CTE. It was his job that killed him and we know that and that’s why we’re still fighting.”

He added: “My father was very lucky because he had medals to sell and his health care costs were very expensive. If my dad didn’t have medals to sell I don’t know what my family would have done. “

He said now football families “are in a terrible state” when they go into car homes. “That is why we are campaigning to get help for those families who are in a complete financial mess when loved ones go into a care home. ...It’s your biggest nightmare. With football, it could be prevented if they reduced it in training...”

He described the Football Brain Health Fund, set up in 2023 by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and the Premier League with an initial £1m to support former players and their families with care costs and other support, as “a pittance”.

“That's why players are coming together. David Beckham sent us a fantastic video,” he said. “He’s backing us completely, amongst a load of other players. Nobody else is going to do it. We have to do it. We have to fight to get help for our players who are suffering.”

Stiles told BBC Breakfast the case of former Aston Villa defender Chris Nicholl, who was living with dementia and died aged 77 last February, as a “disgrace”. His family applied for financial support under the Football Brain Health Fund, but he died while the application process was ongoing.

Stiles and a group of ex-players are joining forces with Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, and Steve Rotheram, mayor of Liverpool, to discuss ways to impose political pressure on the football authorities.

Former Manchester United defender David May, estimates he headed the ball around 20,000 times during his career. “I didn't know anything because it’s only really coming to light now, that this is coming out.

“I’m 55 this year, I’d like to know where I’m going to be in 10 years’ time,” he said. “Would I have the care from the governing bodies, from the PFA, the funding that these families now are not actually getting?

“I’m worried, of course I am. I’ve got a family to look after, and I don’t want my children looking after me day in, day out.” The PFA and the Premier League have a confirmed commitment to increase funding to the Football Brain Health Fund beyond £1million.

The PFA also offers a support team which offers personalised guidance to players' families. One of the advisers is Dawn Astle, whose father Jeff played for West Brom and England and whose death from CTE in 2002 was determined to be death by industrial disease.

An FA spokesperson 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.”

Defender Steve Howey, whose clubs included Newcastle United and Manchester City, has told of how scans show his brain has gone into cognitive decline. Howey, 53, is among a group of claimants pursuing legal action against the sport's governing bodies over brain injuries they allegedly suffered during their playing days.

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