Head for Change supports families of ex-players with residential care costs

Small charity steps in to help former footballers with dementia after assistance from the PFA charity - with assets of £58mi llion - was refused

Threefamilies 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.”

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.”