Former Manchester United and Scotland international Gordon McQueen, ex-Blackburn midfielder Tony Parkes and the former Huddersfield and Bradford forward Allan Gilliver all have advanced dementia; Head for Change have donated £3,000 to each of their families
Tuesday 28 March 2023 18:20, UK
The Players Foundation has been criticised by a charity who say they've had to step in to offer financial support to three former players with dementia, because the Foundation refused to do so.
The Players Foundation is the former charitable arm of the PFA, but the two entities have since split, and work separately.
Former Manchester United and Scotland international Gordon McQueen, ex-Blackburn midfielder Tony Parkes and the former Huddersfield and Bradford forward Allan Gilliver all have advanced dementia, and all are currently in residential care.
The new dementia charity Head for Change which formed three years ago, says their families are struggling to afford the payments, and have donated £3,000 to each of them.
Dr Judith Gates is a co-founder of Head for Change. Her husband, former Middlesbrough player Bill Gates, also has dementia and requires residential care.
Dr Gates says: "We are dealing with families stressed beyond limits through this journey, families who do not know where to go for financial support.
"Through these donations, we are stepping in to bridge this gap and do what the wealthy Players Foundation refuses to do."
Sky Sports News has approached the Players Foundation for comment, but has yet to receive a response.
"The issue of dementia in football is a very difficult one," said Sky Sports News senior reporter Rob Dorsett.
"A lot of organisations - the FA, the PFA, other charitable organisations, are trying to work out how they can best support former players that have been faced with dementia.
"Various doctors have said it is an industrial disease which has changed things from insurance purposes. Touching on this story specifically, the Players Foundation is the former charitable arm of the PFA.
"Those two entities have since split and they work completely separately. The three players in question all have advanced dementia and are in residential care which is very expensive. Head for Change says their families are struggling to afford that care.
"The £3,000 donation is only a fraction of what this care costs."
Dementia has devastated the Boys of '66.
In total, five members of England's World Cup-winning team have developed dementia. It's led to the death of four of them.
Ray Wilson was the first to succumb, in July 2018, with Martin Peters also dying of dementia in December 2019.
Jack Charlton died of the debilitating illness in July 2020, Nobby Stiles in October of that year. A month later it emerged that Sir Bobby Charlton is also suffering from the same condition.
"I think we knew they weren't well, but it's always a huge shock when you hear they've passed," says Sir Geoff. "We knew Nobby had been in a home for some time, and we knew Jack hadn't been out and about.
"It's just been a nightmare year. The pandemic has meant you aren't out and about talking to people about your emotions as you usually would. In fact, this is the only time I can talk about it, and I'm getting a bit emotional now with you, because it's the first time I've really got to talk about my team-mates."
