Article in this week's New European, £2 in the shops or free at your local library (I hope). Waldo and Fletch write about Uwe.

I haven't seen the article but I'm told Waldron and Fletcher have been brilliant with Uwe during his illness.

Fletch gave a a good interview on the Today programme 8.30 this morning on Peter Noble and heading footballs/dementia. Said the problem was probably practising heading for up to 45 minutes at a time with an assortment of ropey old balls. Fletch corrected the presenter and said Peter was a GREAT player, hardened by coming from mining stock in the north east.
Peter Noble RIP.

It would appear that this disease is a lot more common in the older pro footballers than was originally thought. RIP Peter.

Hadn't realised that the long illness was dementia.

Is it as prevalent in the world of boxing ? I haven't heard an awful lot about it, but you would think they would be more prone to it than footballers. Admittedly, there are fewer boxers than footballers, but you would still think it was an issue worth pursuing.

Both my parents suffer from dementia/Alzheimer's and it's bloody awful.

mdd2 wrote:Hadn't realised that the long illness was dementia.

Sadly it was mdd2. I found out by chance last year some time but obviously didn't mention it at the time. I wasn't surprised when I was told because the last time I saw him, in Tesco, I sensed something wasn't right with him.

Funkydrummer wrote:Both my parents suffer from dementia/Alzheimer's and it's bloody awful.

Just the once for me Funkydrummer. That was my dad and we had years of it before he passed away at just 67. It's beyond bloody awful and I always wonder just how on earth my mum coped with it.

Is the article available anywhere; can't find it online...?
Twitter link is too blurry to read!

Bop wrote:Is the article available anywhere; can't find it online...?
Twitter link is too blurry to read!

Just found it
http://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/culture ... -1-5027253" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Funkydrummer wrote:Is it as prevalent in the world of boxing ? I haven't heard an awful lot about it, but you would think they would be more prone to it than footballers. Admittedly, there are fewer boxers than footballers, but you would still think it was an issue worth pursuing.

Both my parents suffer from dementia/Alzheimer's and it's bloody awful.

Would also think in a sport like Rugby it would also be prevalent with number of knocks to head they get.

My mum also suffers from it and as you say an awful awful illness.

Thanks Tony, much appreciated. A good read on friends, proper football and a terrible illness.

Dementia is a terrible illness.
Thanks for the link CT; the article by Waldo & Fletch is very well written and spells out a very pragmatic view from the two.
As they say- nobody knows if Uwe would've suffered the same fate if he'd never headed a ball.
It does seem that there may be a connection between a life of many headers and propensity to suffer from this condition but there's not been a big enough controlled "experiment" to quantify what the relationship is. Eg. are you 5% more likely/10% more likely (or whatever) to end up in this state than a "civi" if you've been a No.5 or No.9?
Also, it'll remain unknown for a while anyway whether the advent of modern balls have reduced the increased risk.
Just as well all are now aware of the danger but it's doubtful that many will be put of playing and heading.

A few months ago The Guardian ran an article outlining the latest state of play with research, Ive not seen any update on this. The concluding para is “So it remains the case that football is overall beneficial for your overall health. Ex-footballers have a lower mortality than the general population, but nevertheless we need to understand a lot more about these brain diseases, especially as we are all part of an ageing population.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/ ... y-suggests

One thing Fletch said in that article is that if they'd been told it would increase the risk of dementia they would have still played and continued heading the ball.

Nothing to do with dementia but both Fletch and Noble have suffered badly with arthritis. I remember talking to him one day and him telling me how the pair of them were constantly injected to get them out onto the pitch with no suggestion that it would have an effect on them in later life. He said then, had they known, they'd have still gone out there and played because it was what they wanted to do. He said Uwe used to declare himself fit at Blackpool when he could hardly walk

That group of players though from the 1970s team have remained unbelievably good friends. They take the p*** out of each constantly but for a team to still be big mates all these years later is amazing. They look after each other too as we've read with them and they've been unbelievably good friends to Uwe.

ClaretTony wrote:Sadly it was mdd2. I found out by chance last year some time but obviously didn't mention it at the time. I wasn't surprised when I was told because the last time I saw him, in Tesco, I sensed something wasn't right with him.




Just the once for me Funkydrummer. That was my dad and we had years of it before he passed away at just 67. It's beyond bloody awful and I always wonder just how on earth my mum coped with it.

Just been with my wife's 90 year old uncle and his 82 year old wife. Cannot hold any kind of conversation with him now. It is one of the most cruelest of illnesses as it takes away the person before they die.

What a fantastic article.

Became a Burnley fan watching the never changing 'band of brothers' team of the early 1970s.

Only watching the current 'group' (or at least the exploits of Burnley over the past few seasons including the three promotions and cup runs) has given me anything like the pleasure that this did.

Fletch was brilliant yesterday, made a great speach at the service.

He mentioned this and said it would never of stopped any of them.

Tony I've kept you an order of service which I'll post if you send address to email.

Jacka wrote:Fletch was brilliant yesterday, made a great speach at the service.

He mentioned this and said it would never of stopped any of them.

Fletch gets some stick on this board at times due to his crazy ideas for a new stand, but he's a top bloke.

I'll email you.