Former Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers player accuses Premier League of lip-service to dementia sufferers

Stiles – who lost his father, World Cup winner Nobby, to the disease in 2020 – has accused the league of trying to ensure the Government's proposed football regulator has no say on player welfare, something they deny.

He also says a "sham" interim £1m fund created with players union the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) to look after sufferers and their dependents is woefully inadequate, too hard to access and will not be followed by the promised Football Brain Health Fund.

Stiles set up Football Families for Justice to campaign on the matter. Around 90 former players, including Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder, ex-Bradford City manager Paul Jewell and former Leeds players John John McClelland, John Lukic and Jim Beglin have written to their MPs about the issue and met with cross-party support.

"The whole object of this particular group is to get proper help that will cover care costs for football families where the loved one has dementia," said Stiles. "We're just trying to put as much pressure on in every single area we can because these families are absolutely desperate."

He cited the examples of former Newcastle United midfielder John McNamee, and Chris Nicholl, the ex-Southampton player and manager who had a spell at Halifax Town, as why the group is needed.

"John McNamee Junior told me the PFA said they wouldn't have to sell his dad's house to pay for his care," he said. "They had to and when the family saw the fund they decided because it was so small an amount, they wouldn't apply because they had the money from their dad's house and they didn't want another family to have to sell their dad's.

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"The £1m fund is a sham, it won't even pay 12 families' healthcare costs for a year.

"In May 2022 it was decided a fund would be created in 12 months that wouldn't be managed by the PFA but a bespoke charity. In the meantime they'd establish an interim fund almost straight away.

"It took until September 2023 to set the interim fund up – £250,000 from the PFA, £750,000 from the Premier League. But the full fund depends on not just the Premier League but the FA and EFL (Football League) putting money into it. The FA and EFL have said they will only help with research – so in other words, the fund isn't coming!

"It doesn't mention widows, only those currently caring for sufferers."

Getting grants is too hard, he says.

"The forms want three months' bank statements, they want to know what investments you've got, how much your house and car are worth and they say it's not means tested," he said. "If you go up to £10,000 (of funding), there's another level of scrutiny, over £20,000 another.

"And it’s capped at £60,000 a year. My dad's care was £125,000 a year.

"There's a formula at the end that virtually nobody would qualify for.

"Chris Nicholl's family asked the PFA for help for at least two or three years. They'd filled all the forms in and they got nothing."

Over £500,000 of grants have been approved.

When approached by The Yorkshire Post the Premier League denied Stiles’ claim it "lobbied really hard for the regulator not to have player welfare included in its remit".

However, it emerged this week it has taken out an advert in Politico’s London Playbook – a newsletter for UK politicians – arguing against the whole concept of a regulator.

The Premier League wrote to the International Football Association Board, which writes football's laws, on March 2 to again request temporary concussion substitutes but this is still to be approved.

It was keen to point out it supports a range of initiative to monitor the effects of concussion and support those who have it.

In December 2021 it joined forces with the FA, EFL and PFA to announce a new joint action plan on understanding, promoting and protecting brain health focusing on research, education, awareness and support for players.

All professional leagues in England test players to understand their baseline neurocognitive function, and work to ensure heading guidance is understood by players and appropriately monitored by club staff in real time.

The Premier League works alongside football, cricket, rugby union organisations and the Alzheimer’s Society to increase understanding of dementia and provide tailored support for those diagnosed with it, providing £100,000 towards it.

Half the outfield players in England's 1966 team were diagnosed with dementia. Leeds legend Jack Charlton, his brother Sir Bobby, former Huddersfield Town full-back Ray Wilson and ex-Sheffield United player and manager Martin Peters were also victims.

Last week Joe Kinnear – best known for managing Wimbledon but a one-time caretaker manager of Doncaster too – was the latest high-profile ex-footballer to die after being diagnosed with dementia.