Three families of former football players who are living with sports-related dementia are being supported with residential care costs by Head for Change, after assistance from the multi-million pound resources of the PFA charity was denied.
Head for Change is donating £3,000 each to the families of former footballers Gordon McQueen, Tony Parkes and Allan Gilliver, to help meet the soaring cost of care for their loved ones.
Although each of the families has appealed for support to the PFA charity – recently renamed the Players’ Foundation – to access some of its declared assets of £58million to support with residential care costs, they have been refused.
Now, Head for Change – a small charity founded in 2020 by three family members of ex-players who live with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which was classified by a coroner as an industrial disease – is stepping in to give the badly-needed practical support which has been absent from elsewhere.
Through funds raised from a footballing lunch in London, supported by former Arsenal and England legend Paul Merson and MBN Promotions, Head for Change is laying bare the need for ex-players suffering from an industrial disease and their families to receive support.
Dr Judith Gates, co-founder and trustee of Head for Change – whose husband, former Middlesbrough player Bill Gates, now requires residential care – said: “This dementia journey is often a long one – and it is hell.
“We are dealing with families stressed beyond limits throughout this journey, families who do not know where to go for financial support.
“Through these donations, we are stepping in to bridge this gap and do what the wealthy Players’ Foundation refuses to do.
“We only wish we could help more families. We ourselves are living with this tragedy, and understand first-hand what families are going through.”
Head for Change works extensively with former footballers and their families, offering care and support in group settings and to individuals, as well as providing families with access to Admiral Nurses and other experts.
Dr Gates said that as well as the significant emotional and physical toll on families of caring for loved ones with dementia, the financial burden is a growing concern for many.
While two years ago the PFA Union was reported to have asked the sporting governing bodies to set up an independent care fund to support former players with dementia, this has not yet materialised – but families have said it is absolutely crucial that any such fund meets costs of residential care.
“These families are exhausted from bathing, cleaning and caring for a person who is invariably resistant, often violent and increasingly dependent,” said Dr Gates.
“But the much feared central concern is what happens when a loved one needs full-time care. How will it be funded? What will happen to our savings? Will we lose our home? We see this ongoing terror every day.”
The donations from Head for Change have been gratefully welcomed by the families.
Natalie Parkes-Thompson, daughter of Tony Parkes – a club legend at Blackburn Rovers for his years spent there as a player and coach – said she has given up all hope of any support from the PFA in trying to meet care costs.
“The costs of care are a constant worry. They feel like a noose around my neck,” says Natalie, a mother of two young children who works full time.
“Next month, they are going to rise by another 12 per cent. Knowing that is on the horizon is on my mind all of the time. Every month, it costs thousands of pounds just to know my dad is being cared for, and realistically I don’t know how long that can be sustained.
“This donation from Head for Change means so much. It was given from the heart with no strings attached. It’s not the amount that is most important – this will cover part of dad’s care costs for a month – but it’s the fact it was offered to us, I didn’t have to ask.
“It’s the fact that someone is there and willing to help us financially with the cost of residential care. It feels like someone is listening at long last, that someone understands and wants to help.”
Christine Gilliver, wife of former Bradford City and Huddersfield footballer Allan, previously did receive some financial support from the PFA, which financed respite care for her husband – but that was ended abruptly once he required residential care.
“The financial strain is very real. I get so upset that, because of him playing football and doing his job, we’re now having to spend his private pension just so he can be looked after,” says Christine, who has written to the Players’ Foundation to formally ask them to release their £58million assets to support players in urgent need.
“While respite care was very welcome, the nature of dementia is that it is degenerative, so of course anyone living with it will get worse and their needs increase. For there to be no support with residential care for when this time comes is just awful.
“The way former players of my husband’s age are being treated is truly dreadful – these are the people who have made the game what it is today and who gave so much joy to so many football fans over the years. They don’t deserve this – they deserve so much better.
“When Head for Change offered us some support, I couldn’t believe it. I’d given up asking for anything more from anyone, because once my husband went into residential care, the PFA didn’t want to know. But Head for Change did. Everyone there understands because they live this too.”
Now rebranded as The Players’ Foundation, the PFA Charity severed links with the PFA Union following a Charity Commission regulatory inquiry, which is the most serious form of intervention.
Dr Gates notes that, despite assurances by the PFA Union that dementia in ex-players is a priority, affected families now receive less financial support from the PFA Union and/or Charity than they did when Gordon Taylor was CEO.
“We ask the Players’ Foundation, ‘What are you doing with your £58m of assets that originally came to you from the Premier League to support players?’,” she said.
“A charity does not exist to use its assets to create more assets to create more assets. It exists to use its assets to be of benefit to its beneficiaries. These guys are suffering because of their profession.
“Football makes billions. Football needs players. The Players’ Foundation has a responsibility to look after players who have served the beautiful game so well.”
