By BBC (Sports) | Created at 2025-01-10 17:45:29 | Updated at 2025-01-10 20:58:33
3 hours ago
Former Hull, Bradford and Middlesbrough striker Dean Windass has been diagnosed with stage two dementia.
The 55-year-old made more than 700 appearances for 12 clubs during his 19-year career between 1990 and 2009, scoring more than 230 goals.
Writing about his diagnosis on X, Windass said he was "OK" and joked: "I was delighted to find out I had a brain".
He added: "I Just hope other families get the help what they want for the people they have lost."
Windass had two spells at hometown club Hull and scored the winner in their 2008 Championship play-off final victory over Bristol City.
He also played in the Premier League for Bradford and Middlesbrough, and spent three seasons in the Scottish top flight with Aberdeen.
There were also short spells at Oxford, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and Darlington before retiring in 2009.
He has worked in the media since then and became a Hull ambassador in 2015.
One of his sons, Josh, plays as a forward for Championship side Sheffield Wednesday.
Former Manchester United and Blackburn defender David May announced the news on BBC Breakfast, confirming he had been given permission by Windass to do so.
He said: "He's the same age as me and he's worried sick of how it's going to be in the future for him."
May is among a group of former footballers and families of ex-players backing a campaign to provide more support for former players affected by neurodegenerative disease.
The Football Families for Justice (FFJ) campaign is also working with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region.
May added: "I'm 55 this year, I'd like to know where I'm going to be in 10 years' time. Would I have the care from the governing bodies, from the PFA, the funding that these families now are not actually getting?
"I'm worried, of course I am. I've got a family to look after, and I don't want my children looking after me day in, day out."
FFJ is being led by John Stiles, the son of England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles.
Former Manchester United midfielder Stiles, who died in 2020, had prostate cancer and advanced dementia.
His brain was diagnosed as having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - a form of degenerative disease dementia which is believed to be caused by repeated blows.
John Stiles told BBC Breakfast: "My father was very lucky because he had medals to sell. His healthcare was very expensive. If he didn't have medals to sell I don't know what my family would have done - and that is what is happening to families of footballers.
"That is why we are campaigning to get help for those families who are in a complete financial mess when their husband goes into a care home."
The Professional Footballers' Association, the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales, has a dedicated brain health team to support former members, and educate current players, concerned about brain health.
In September 2023 it launched the Football Brain Health Fund, making available an initial £1m to assist former players and their families who have been impacted by dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions.
In May, the Football Association said it would introduce a new rule to phase out deliberate heading in grassroots youth matches across England.
