Under-12s should be BANNED from heading footballs amid fears the repeated blows may lead to dementia, ex-Scottish FA chief warns
- Gordon Smith was the chief executive of the body between 2007 and 2010
- The ex-Rangers player suggested youngsters to practice with soft plastic balls
- His claims follow a study that found footballers are at greater risk of dementia
A former head of the Scottish FA has called for under-12s to be banned from heading footballs over dementia fears.
Gordon Smith, who was chief executive of the body between 2007 and 2010, wants youngsters to practice with soft plastic balls.
The ex-Rangers and Kilmarnock player’s claims follow a major study earlier this week that found footballers are at greater risk of dementia.
Although the research did not assess the exact cause of the neurological problems, most experts agree repeatedly heading the ball is likely to be a source.
Gordon Smith, who was chief executive of the body between 2007 and 2010, wants youngsters to practice with soft plastic balls
Former Liverpool player and manager Bob Paisley (middle) died from Alzheimer’s in 1996
Mr Smith said: ‘Because of the evidence we have, I do agree with the Americans that the younger kids, under 12 should not be heading the ball.
‘The mind is just developing at that stage. What I would say is that the younger kids could practise technique with a soft plastic ball.
‘One of the biggest problems they had in days gone by was that there was a lot of practice heading sessions.’
However, he added: ‘I don’t believe it should be taken out of the game. I think it’s very much part of the game, like tackling.
‘It’s a special aspect of it and I want to keep that in football but we should take into account the danger for kids.’
Henry McLeish, who played for East Fife, and now chairs the elite academy in the area, said he endorsed Gordon Smith’s view about children heading balls.
The Jeff Astle gates outside West Brom’s Hawthorns stadium: Astle died from dementia, a disease that was ruled to have been caused by repetitively heading leather footballs
He said: ‘If there are risks then we need to discuss them in an informed, open and constructive manner.’
Former England midfielder Ryan Mason previously called for children to be banned from heading balls to prevent them suffering brain injuries.
The player’s career was cut short at the age of 26 after he fractured his skull in a clash with another player.
The landmark dementia study, of 7,680 Scottish professionals born between 1900 and 1976, was published in the respected New England Journal of Medicine.
The FA-funded research found ex-players were five times as likely to have died with Alzheimer’s – the most common form of dementia – than the general population.
The research also found footballers had a four-fold increased risk of dying of motor neurone disease and a two-fold increase for Parkinson’s.
Other experts pointed out the players assessed used much heavier footballers than in the modern game, so the risks may not be as great as the study suggests.
Responding to the University of Glasgow study, FA chairman Greg Clarke said there are ‘many questions that still need to be answered’.
The study was launched after years of campaigning by the family of former West Brom and England star Jeff Astle, who died aged of 59 with severe brain damage.
Astle, who was known as a great header of the ball, died in 2002 after a career in which he scored 174 goals in 361 games.
His inquest heard his neurological disorder – chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – had been caused by the repeated impact of heading footballs.
The progressive, degenerative brain disease is often found in individuals with a history of head injury, such as professional boxers and American footballers.
Dr James Pickett, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said the study does not say ‘anything about the risk of a Saturday kick about in the park’.
Alan Shearer (pictured) underwent tests on his brain as part of a documentary on the risks of dementia associated with the long-term effects of heading footballs back in 2017
HOW DID ENGLAND STRIKER JEFF ASTLE DIE? INQUEST REVEALS HE SUFFERED CTE FROM HEADING LEATHER FOOTBALLS
Former England and West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle died in 2002
Former England and West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle (right) died in 2002.
He was only 59 but doctors said he had the brain of a 90-year-old after suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE is a progressive, degenerative brain disease found in individuals with a history of head injury, often as a result of multiple concussions.
An inquest ruled Astle died from dementia caused by heading footballs – the first British professional footballer to be officially confirmed to have done so.
Astle, who was left unable to recognise his own children, once commented that heading a football was like heading ‘a bag of bricks’.
His family set up the Jeff Astle Foundation in 2015 in order to raise awareness of brain injury in sport. His daughter Dawn said ‘the game that he lived for killed him’.
Danny Blanchflower, who captained Tottenham Hotspur during their double winning season of 1961, died after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in 1993. He was 67.
His death has also been linked to heading the heavy, leather balls of the 1940s and 50s, along with fellow Tottenham players Dave Mackay, Peter Baker and Ron Henry.
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