Foreword
1. It was many years before I could properly enjoy a gin and tonic
2. I want to tell them theres a ticking time bomb. As you are, once was Bill
3. A rugged centre half who wouldnt flinch at a head-on meeting with Cassius Clay, if he was wearing a No 9 shirt
4. There are lots of opportunities in life. Some people take them and some people dont
5. The authorities dont seem prepared to admit the scale of the problem. People like my dad loved football, and its killing them
6. 'When it all comes out, what has happened in football will be seen as a scandal worse than Savile, worse than Grenfell Tower, worse than Windrush'
7. My mum knows nothing about football but she is the most dangerous woman in the game
8. Judiths formidable, thats the word. Shes driven, and shes not going to let it go now
9. I knew there wouldnt be conversations, Id no illusions about that, but in many ways he wasnt my dad
10. He didnt need much persuading. I think the quid pro quo was a small box of Milk Tray
11. I spent the night in Middlesbrough hospital. It went on like that for two days and they had me training again on the third
12. This disease tests your kindness. It tests your patience. It tests your family. It tests everything except your love. But the more you love, the more your heart breaks
13. The brutal truth is that there arent enough people suffering from MND to make research a good investment for drug companies
14. If you got a bad concussion, stumbling around a bit, it was regarded as a joke and played afterwards on the videotape, so everyone could have a good laugh'
15. My dad was always very supportive of the PFA, but I think theyve failed families and football participants in general
16. People would cross the road to avoid you, even in Middlesbrough
17. Ive been in board rooms full of people from Oxford and Cambridge and always had the advantage of them, because I was from Co Durham
18. I really care about finding the answer, but I dont want to come across as a saint
19. I remember (down the pit) they used to call the daft lads the heedybaals. A bit late, but it all starts to make sense
20. It very much reminds me of the smoking debate. Everyone knows that its wrong, unwise, but no one seems to do much
21. The Concussion in Sport Group has controlled the narrative for 20 years, and it has come to this
22. How pathetic that 30 former footballers are to sue the Football Association over negligence. . . .
23. If this was the shipyards, Im talking about asbestos, the trade unions would be calling them out because of the risk to their health
24. We would have expected the Football Association to have been publicly hounded by the Professional Footballers Association. . .
25. I truly believe that this is the beginning of the end. Its exciting to think that we will soon have life-saving treatments to tackle this disease
26. Various failings over a prolonged period of time
27. Certainly there seems to be recent history between Head for Change and the PFA'
28. Weve had the agitations and the obsessions. Now hes happy and safe. Thats such a relief to us all
29. The conversations theyre having in rugby they were having in boxing 100 years ago
30. Its a space where we can say what we want without judgement. We dont have to be good girls being brave
31. Its so sad that football was his passion and is now the cause of his demise
32. There is a fundamental issue if players, unions and leagues feel that lawmakers are holding them back from what they collectively agree to protect the safety of players
33. Head for Change is doing what the wealthy Players Foundation refuses to do
34. There is a remarkable consistency of symptoms across all these contact sports, and it is very grim
35. We appreciate the invitation to take part in the book, however we would politely have to decline on this occasion
36. After years of political wrangling, Englands football authorities are close to agreeing a deal to establish a Dementia Care Fund to help former players
37. He wanted no one else from Ferryhill, from Spennymoor, from the whole world to suffer as he was suffering
38. Another cliche sorry we can only play the hand were dealt
39. We are a charity for everyone all ages, genders, players at every level
40. 'Its hard to envisage our authorities allowing our sportsmen and women play what seems designed to hasten the onset of dementia