Dean Windass [Merged]

[East Londoner]

Was revealed on BBC Breakfast this morning that he’s been diagnosed with stage two dementia 

Apparently professional footballers are 3.5 times more likely to be diagnosed due to heading the ball 

 

Edited Friday at 14:23 by East Londoner

[Leabrook]

Awful news.  Thankfully things are being done in kids football to limit heading. Bizarrely nothing done in the pro game yet.  
 

Wish I could forget that play off final goal though! 

[TammyAB]

Not someone I've ever liked. Will be tough for him and his family.

[42nite]

Horrible disease!

My Mother and Father in Law, both recently deceased suffered its pains.

I feel sorry for any newly diagnosed persons and their families. 

 

[formerly known as ivan]

1 hour ago, TammyAB said:

Not someone I've ever liked. Will be tough for him and his family.

Not sure personal feelings should come into it. Not something you would wish on anyone.

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

2 hours ago, East Londoner said:

Was revealed on BBC Breakfast this morning that he’s been diagnosed with stage two dementia 

Apparently professional footballers are 3.5 times more likely to be diagnosed due to heading the ball 

 

Appalling new but there is still much more to do in determining causes. Why should a player like Dean Windass, who was hardly your old fashioned centre forward type, suffer when others who would have headed the ball much more than him remain unscathed. 

[M.D]

Terrible illness, My mum (87) has it and is very difficult for her and family, rarely recognises me now..

I wish the Windass family all the best.

[harvey54]

Hope he gets the best care and a good life. 'That' goal apart he was a good bloke. Proper old style forward. 

Keep well Dean  

[Gazred]

Tough enough seeing my old Dad in his 80s with it. For a guy in his 50s, that's a pretty devastating blow.

Him and his loved ones certainly have my sympathies.

[Ron W]

2 hours ago, TammyAB said:

Not someone I've ever liked.

Will never understand why people think this is relevant on these sort of stories.

Really sad news. No age at 55.

Edited Friday at 17:02 by Ron W

[HengroveReds]

no matter what happened in 2008 wouldn’t wish this on anyone, thoughts with Dean & family - stay strong  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cew5lyrkxpjo

[Aipearcey]

3 hours ago, Leabrook said:

Awful news.  Thankfully things are being done in kids football to limit heading. Bizarrely nothing done in the pro game yet.  
 

Wish I could forget that play off final goal though! 

If you remove heading from football then you may as well call it a day. No different from sports like boxing. We all know the risks but take part in it due to love of the game in the same way people drink alcohol and smoke all which come with their own risks.

[BarnzFM]

1 minute ago, Aipearcey said:

If you remove heading from football then you may as well call it a day. No different from sports like boxing. We all know the risks but take part in it due to love of the game in the same way people drink alcohol and smoke all which come with their own risks.

What utter nonsense, we quite clearly don’t all know the risks, let alone expecting kids to know as well. The insights into effects off heading a ball are relatively new in comparison to drinking and smoking, utterly bizarre post. 

[MelksRed]

Mods, please merge! 

[The Gasbuster]

2 hours ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Not sure personal feelings should come into it. Not something you would wish on anyone.

Vladimir Putin ? Bashar al Assad ?

[HengroveReds]

2 minutes ago, MelksRed said:

Mods, please merge! 

Apologies didn’t see

[lenred]

So even a thread about someone’s suffering can only last a few posts before it transcends into arguments.  Shame.   

[Calculus]

1 hour ago, harvey54 said:

Hope he gets the best care and a good life. 'That' goal apart he was a good bloke. Proper old style forward. 

Keep well Dean  

Spot on. Let's not forget that it was him that saw Bradley Orr was in trouble and told the ref to stop the game. Proper football man, good bloke, difficult opponent and got his home town club a dream promotion into the Prem.

All the best to the man and his family.

[Shanghai_red]

Only 55 years old…Way too young to start suffering from something so horrible. I hope they’ll take more steps to stop this from happening in pro footballers. 

[handsofclay]

26 minutes ago, Aipearcey said:

If you remove heading from football then you may as well call it a day. No different from sports like boxing. We all know the risks but take part in it due to love of the game in the same way people drink alcohol and smoke all which come with their own risks.

 I play a hybrid form of walking football (jogging football really) and do a lot of heading at the age of 62, score a fair few goals via my nut. I enjoy it and know the risks. We can choose to live a closeted life free from risks, and perhaps increase our longevity. But to me that life would be less memorable and enjoyable. It's the life in your years that ultimately counts not the years in your life. 

[Ronnie Sinclair]

Awful news, all the best to you Mr. Windass 

[formerly known as ivan]

1 hour ago, The Gasbuster said:

Vladimir Putin ? Bashar al Assad ?

You can take it as literal as you like

[Swede]

Really sad to hear this news for him and his family. He's famous for what he did in 2008 and rightly so, that's his part of history, for him and his club.

[ZiderEyed]

55. ******* Hell. Horrible thing for anyone to get mind, but that really is no age 

[RedLionLad]

5 hours ago, TammyAB said:

Not someone I've ever liked. Will be tough for him and his family.

Sympathy for a fellow human being is free, but you couldn't afford that mate.

[Rebounder]

2 hours ago, handsofclay said:

 I play a hybrid form of walking football (jogging football really) and do a lot of heading at the age of 62, score a fair few goals via my nut. I enjoy it and know the risks. We can choose to live a closeted life free from risks, and perhaps increase our longevity. But to me that life would be less memorable and enjoyable. It's the life in your years that ultimately counts not the years in your life. 

Do you go into work every day and head a ball repeatedly for 6 days of the week? We don't know how, or why Windass has got dementia but I imagine many players who have the benefit of hindsight wish that they hadn't have headed the ball constantly as they used too. There was a good interview with Gary Pallister and Steve Howey the other day that's worth reading - www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c708464p1zpo.amp?espv=1

There is a big difference between doing a few headers at the park at the weekend to doing it every day as part of a routine. I don't want to ban heading either, but I do think we should reduce the risk as much as possible. 

I agree with your overall comment about enjoying life. I am at higher risk of early onset dementia due to a parent who developed it. I have always struggled with sleep which doesn't help, but I still enjoy my life stay up all night at the weekend etc knowing that there is an increased risk. I'm not doing it for a job though, and that is ultimately what it is for players. 

Regardless it's awful news for Windass and wish him and his family all the best. 

 

[Eddie Hitler]

5 hours ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Not sure personal feelings should come into it. Not something you would wish on anyone.

 

Oh there certainly are people in the world upon whom I would wish that, though not someone who happened to score a crucial goal against us in a football match.

Poor old Dean 

[Leabrook]

4 hours ago, Aipearcey said:

If you remove heading from football then you may as well call it a day. No different from sports like boxing. We all know the risks but take part in it due to love of the game in the same way people drink alcohol and smoke all which come with their own risks.

I didn’t say remove heading from football 

[handsofclay]

1 hour ago, Rebounder said:

Do you go into work every day and head a ball repeatedly for 6 days of the week? We don't know how, or why Windass has got dementia but I imagine many players who have the benefit of hindsight wish that they hadn't have headed the ball constantly as they used too. There was a good interview with Gary Pallister and Steve Howey the other day that's worth reading - www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c708464p1zpo.amp?espv=1

There is a big difference between doing a few headers at the park at the weekend to doing it every day as part of a routine. I don't want to ban heading either, but I do think we should reduce the risk as much as possible. 

I agree with your overall comment about enjoying life. I am at higher risk of early onset dementia due to a parent who developed it. I have always struggled with sleep which doesn't help, but I still enjoy my life stay up all night at the weekend etc knowing that there is an increased risk. I'm not doing it for a job though, and that is ultimately what it is for players. 

Regardless it's awful news for Windass and wish him and his family all the best. 

 

Yes, I agree, when my mum was alive, she passed away just before Xmas, she kept on at me about the dangers of heading the ball. I told her similar to what you stated, that the pro footballers were heading it loads in daily training and I am not doing that. Sometimes I might head it only twice in an entire match. So that's about four headers in a week as I play twice where over head height is allowed. Sometimes it might be about 20 headers in a week at the other end of the scale.

But I agree that headers in training could be reduced in fact even ceased altogether. Only head the ball when it's necessary during a game. That would cut down on a lot of heading while still having it in the game.

I also play the proper walking football rules one game a week with no overhead height and those games are never as exciting and very similar each week as the variables are greatly reduced. So I think football is more exciting due to the existence of heading but I agree it should really only occur in matches not practiced endlessly, even at all, in practice. 

[Red Cyril 2]

I cruel end for all who suffer from this disease. My best wishes to him and all his family.

[Bristol Oil Services]

On 10/01/2025 at 14:31, Leabrook said:

Awful news.  Thankfully things are being done in kids football to limit heading. Bizarrely nothing done in the pro game yet.  
 

Wish I could forget that play off final goal though! 

Saved us a penalty shoot-out, mate (it's not what happens to you, it's what you make of what happens to you)

[Wealwayseatcheese]

I follow Dean on X and he is a down to earth genuine guy, does people a lot of good with his work with CBD products. 2008 was our failing , I wish him nothing but the best in dealing with this horrible illness. 

[Red-Robbo]

Very sad news. I hope the disease's progress is very slow and he still has many good days to enjoy with his family.

There is very promising research happening in the field of dementia treatment,  so let's all hope we will eventually see this cruel condition as something that is treatable.