MANCHESTER UNITED cult hero David May has admitted that football players are “scared to death of getting dementia” – himself included.
Ex-defender May revealed that he personally knows of around “four or five” former United stars from the 70s and 80s with the disease.
PADavid May has admitted that professional football players are ‘scared to death of dementia’[/caption]
May told The Telegraph: “Dementia is an industrial injury.
“I speak to players now and they say, ‘Have you been tested?’ They say, ‘No I don’t want to find out’.
“People are absolutely scared to death of finding out.
Former team-mate David Beckham was among those who sent a message of support at the group launch of Football Families for Justice last month.
The organisation is demanding urgent action to tackle the beautiful game’s dementia crisis.
May added: “Three or four nights before the launch all I could think of is, ‘Oh my God, this will happen to me’.
“All I can think if I go in the kitchen and forget something is, ‘Have I got dementia?’ Once that’s passed, I’m fine again. But just those thoughts go through your mind.
“I’m 55 this year. I don’t want my kids in 10 years’ time having to look after me, not being able to speak to them and understand them.
“I would wish they could come once a week, twice a week, see their dad, know that I’m well cared for.”
May decided to become involved after speaking with John Stiles, the son of 1966 World Cup winner Nobby.
Nobby Stiles died from a neurodegenerative disease associated with head impacts that leads to dementia in October 2020.
You look at the 80s and 90s – it was, ‘get on with it lads’ and that’s what we did.
David May
Defenders are FIVE times more likely to be diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, than someone who is not a professional player, according to research commissioned by the FA in 2017.
The landmark study by the University of Glasgow also found no decline in that ratio through the eras.
Professor Willie Stewart isolated the link last year to heading and head impacts, rather than any outside lifestyle factor.
May said that players would take aerial blows “all the time” whether from heading, elbows or clashes of heads.
Denis Law (left) and Bobby Charlton (middle) both passed away after long battles with dementia
He revealed: “There’s quite a few players involved in the group who played in the 1980s who talk about their ex team-mates – I’m not going to name names – who are struggling with dementia.
“I remember playing for Burnley against Stoke – I got a bang on the head and I can’t even remember who did it.
“You look at the 80s and 90s – it was, ‘get on with it lads’ and that’s what we did.
It’s like getting punched off a professional boxer at 80 per cent.
David May
“You’d probably get two or three free hits before you got spoken to and you would pass it to your other centre-half. And they would do it back to you. It would be a free-for-all.
“When I look at the amount of times I must have headed a ball in training, before a game, during a game, as a kid, you are talking thousands and thousands.
“I would do 30-40 headers on a Friday – corners and free-kicks. They say that each heading of a ball whether from a goalkeeper or long free-kick is like getting punched off a professional boxer at 80 per cent.
News Group Newspapers LtdMay won seven major honours with Man Utd during the 90s[/caption]
May, who started in Man Utd’s FA Cup final-winning teams of 1996 and 1999, has not called for a ban on heading.
But Treble winner wants current players to be fully informed of the risks and for sport to collectively step forward for its former heroes.
May revealed that ex-Hull star Dean Windass was diagnosed with stage-two dementia at the age of 55 last month.
With permission from Windass, May said: “I asked Deano how he is.
“He’s the same age as me and he’s worried sick of how it’s going to be in the future for him.”
An application to the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council to prescribe neurodegenerative disease in professional football as an industry-related disease has also just passed its fifth anniversary without resolution.
Man Utd and Scotland icon Denis Law sadly lost his brave battle with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease last month.
While Old Trafford and England legend Sir Bobby Charlton had dementia when he died from a fall at his care home, a 2023 inquest heard.
The FA did introduce guidance in 2021 that recommended no more than 10 “high-force” headers in training per week.
The PFA is currently working with more than 200 families of former players with dementia.
Tony Parkes and Allan Gilliver are two former stars currently suffering with it, while legends Chris Nicholl and Stan Bowles tragically passed away on the same day last year – February 24.
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