Ex-Blue Sutton: Aware of link between football and dementia comes too late

The confirmation that there is a link between football and dementia brings me no satisfaction. It makes me angry.

Angry for people like my dad, Mike, and other former footballers who are dying in the most horrible and humiliating way. Angry for the future generations who will suffer, too, because this study was rolled out 15 years too late.

In November 2002, a coroner ruled that Jeff Astle, the former England striker famed for his ability in the air, died from dementia brought on by repeatedly heading the ball.

They found that he had a brain similar to that of a boxer. That was the moment to commission a study. Not in 2017.

The PFA - led by Gordon Taylor - had a duty of care to their members. They let them down and, in my opinion, their chief executive has blood on his hands.

Taylor's reaction on Monday, about how these findings are 'of considerable importance' to their members, was an insult. It accepted no responsibility. If he had anything about him, he would have released a two-word statement: 'I'm sorry.'

Sorry to all the footballers he failed, past and present. Then the honourable thing would have been for him to walk.

For me, the outcome of this study confirms Taylor let his members down. You cannot find a solution without first finding the link, and that should have been confirmed long before Monday.

Taylor knew about Astle and testing started in 2002. But then it emerged in 2014 that research had stopped long ago with no answers. Why? Where was the duty of care? The leadership?

Had I known what we know now, I would not have said yes to heading hundreds of wet, heavy balls in training if asked. I would have liked that choice. At least youngsters have that now.

My dad, a former Norwich player, is suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy - a degenerative disease of the brain caused by repetitive brain trauma. He is 75 and first developed symptoms of dementia when he was still in his sixties.

For those of you who have not had direct contact with this awful disease, let me try to explain it to you. My dad has to wear a nappy. He cannot remember I played football, or that he did either. Whereas he was once a fit man, he now struggles with walking.

He does not know how to eat. He was totally reliant on my mum and is now in 24-hour care. It is no existence, and I believe football was behind his deterioration.

So what do we do with this information now? There is already a ban on kids heading footballs in the United States. Maybe it is time to bring that to these shores. A Premier League centre back will head the ball hundreds of times a week in training. Do we limit that, too?

I'm not saying we ban heading in football. My dad would not want that, and neither do I. But at least this study now gives every youngster a choice. Any kids in academies, you now know the dangers.

You can decide if you want to pursue a career in professional football or try something else. You can decide whether you want to practise heading the ball over and over. I would have liked that choice, too.