LUFCTALK

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-4430 ... ting-story

Brings it home as my dad who was 90 in March has had Parkinson's for over 10 years and the dementia is really set in as his short term memory is very poor these days.

Very sad. I put John Charles in the top five footballers of all-time. I am puzzled by the fact that this is only coming to the surface now. When I was growing up in Liverpool, 70 odd years ago, a common label put on people who were a bit slow, was 'a header the ball'. It appears to have been recognised back then that the results of heading the ball was similar to boxers being 'punch drunk'.

I'm sure it was, given how much the damn thing was dry let alone wet !

I never liked heading - my least favourite part of the game - which is probably why I admire players who revel in it ..

Reminds me of how shocked I was when Jeff Astle died. That was also put down to repeated head traumas from heading the ball during his playing days that caused a degenerative brain disease. I say shocked because he was on Fantasy Football League at the time and was only 59 years old.