Football’s ruling ‘elite’ really are a bunch of tossers. Their belief in ‘the status quo’ is so overwhelming that they seldom, if ever, actually do anything. They don’t have to, they’re part of football, the biggest gravy-train there is. But sometimes even the FA and their partners in crime simply have to yield to pressure. And rush into action over what are, literally, life-and-death matters.

Jeff Astle died in 2002 from dementia, aged 59. He’d been a footballer and a good one. Famous for scoring headed goals. In the dark days of the 60s and 70s when the ball (felt like it-) was made of concrete but got much heavier in the wet. So, many people thought that there may possibly be a link between repeatedly banging your head against things and brain damage. As they seemed to have realised in boxing. It doesn’t take a massive leap of lateral thinking to relate head-banging to possible brain issues.

So due to the severity and the potentially massive impact (no pun) this could have on the game, just 15 years later they’re about to start a study on the link between heading a football and both brain damage and any likely implications in advancing dementia. I mean, what’s 15 years when the known universe is 6 billion years old?? Come on, its just a blink.

Alan Shearer, himself no mean header of a football, was the subject of a documentary last week introducing this study. And they’re gonna look at everything, from 15,000 current and former players and 45,000 members of the general, non-football-playing public; the ones arriving by bus as opposed to Bentley. For a ‘control’. A comparison to see what ‘normal’ people’s brains do.

And I’d personally be amazed if there wasn’t a massive difference in brain damage/function between the 2 groups. A centre-back can head the ball 30 times in a game, never mind training, practice and head-butting strangers in pubs. We shall wait and see. But remember, even if there is a difference, golden rule of statistics: corr-el-ation-is-NOT-caus-ation. Just cos two things seem to be linked doesn’t mean one causes the other. There may be ‘other factors’. Like, f’rinstance, and in no way is this example gleaned from my years of listening (in agony, with ear-ache and shame) to footballers and pundits grunting and groaning and glottally stopping their inarticulate ways through interviews, but it could possibly be that many people in football arrive almost ‘pre-brain-damaged’ in some way. Not a fact, I’m just sayin’ it could be the case. In da interests of scientific impartiality and… errr… equality.

Happy Friday

A xxxx