Gary Lineker has revealed his dementia fears following new evidence of a strong link between football and the brain disease, and has backed calls to ban heading from training at all levels of the game.
The England legend and broadcaster has suggested there should even be a trial to take heading the ball out of the game completely, but concedes it just may not work.
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Lineker joined talkSPORT for a special documentary, ‘Dementia and Football’, as we support calls for permanent change to the game.
An inquiry was launched by Parliament on Tuesday into sport’s link to brain disease, and talkSPORT will bring you an emotive insight into the struggles of former footballers and their families affected by dementia, to be broadcast on Sunday March 14.
Research has found that former professional footballers are 3.5 times more likely to die from a brain disease than the general population.
And while there is no proven link between heading the ball and dementia, Lineker is certain the statistics are no coincidence as he revealed conversations with Alan Shearer and Ian Wright over their future health concerns.
“With seeing so many footballers who have now got dementia, the statistics are quite worrying,” the former England star told talkSPORT.
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“It’s too big a coincidence, it HAS to be associated with heading the ball.
“I’ve had conversations with Alan Shearer and Ian Wright and various others, the worry is that in 10 or 15 years that it might happen to one of us, and in fact the odds suggest that it probably WILL happen to one of us, so it is concerning.
“Do you want to take heading out of the game? No I don’t think so, but I think you can take heading out of training, or limit it massively.
“You talk about head tennis, that’s not going to do much as it’s just little flicks and touches, but exercises where defenders are heading it clear, crosses are sent in and players are heading the ball away and at goal repeatedly in training, I’ve watched centre-backs do it – bang, bang, bang – most of the damage will probably be done then.
“In a match how many times would you head it? Probably not that many. So I don’t think you can change the whole game, but you can definitely change the way we think about training.”
Lineker’s concerns are not only for footballers in general, but are also deeply personal.
The ex-Leicester, Everton and Barcelona striker was famed for his heading ability during his career – he has scored more headed goals for England than any other player.
And while he explained he eventually phased heading out of his regular training regime – ‘it just hurt too much!’ – his focus on heading during his early career and coaching now presents him with a major worry.
“I headed the ball a lot as a young player,” he said.
“When I first joined Leicester as a 12-year-old, I used to go every Tuesday and Thursday after school, I had a coach, George Dewis, who is sadly no longer with us. He was a great striker for Leicester himself way back when and his training was always just about finishing, nothing else.
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“He was also in charge of the apprentices so I had him for another two years when I signed for the club, and it was the same, all finishing, one-on-ones, a lot of crossing and a lot of heading.
“I owe him a great debt in terms of my ability to finish because I did hours and hours of it every single day.
“But that’s why I’m slightly concerned because I know I did a lot of heading when I was young, so I’m worried whether that’s had any effect. I won’t know for a while, I’m seemingly fine at the moment and hopefully what will remain the case.
“I don’t see how any footballer reading all this stuff at the moment wouldn’t have some kind of concern. If I had known what I know now, I would have certainly limited the amount of heading I did when I was younger – no question.
“Whether that would have made me not as good a footballer or whether I would have been not as good as heading the ball as I actually was, it’s impossible to say.”
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Taking heading out of football may seem like an extreme measure. Some argue it’s an occupational hazard for footballers, in the same way a Formula 1 driver could suffer life-threatening injuries in a crash.
But Lineker insists authorities cannot afford to wait to see how the current generation of players are affected before changes are made, and suggested how the game can tackle the issue of football and brain disease – a trial to ban heading from the game completely.
“It’s hard to imagine the game without heading, but maybe it’s worth trailing to see what it looks like,” added the 60-year-old.
“Particularly if the evidence keeps rolling in and more and more players… it was the era of the 1966 players who have made us really aware of this.
“Football has changed since then, so we may see that it [dementia] is less prevalent in my era… but can we afford to wait that long? I suspect not.
“It would be interesting to trial, like with new rule changes, but what do you do when the ball is coming over in the air four yards out from goal, chest it in?
“My personal feeling is either limit or or get rid of it in training, but keep it in the game.”
‘Dementia and Football: talkSPORT’s Support For Change’ is a special documentary that will be broadcast from 9:30pm on Sunday 14 March
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