Fans to return...

Interestingly enough I actually watched a program that featured dimentia in the older players and one fact that stuck out was that the actual weight of a ball has not changed down the years .. however what has changed is the newer balls are now coated to disperse water where as the old leather balls used to soak it up making it almost double its weight in wet conditions. Food for thought that the newer professional footballer may not be as much at risk as those of days gone by.

 

See my post above .. according to this program the weight of a football has not changed that much if at all .. what has changed is the technology which stops it soaking in the wet and therefore changing its starting weight.

 

Is there more prevalence of dementia among footballers than there is in the general population?

 

It was established that a higher percentage of old time footballers suffered from dementia related illnesses then the general public

 

As things stand pubs will be open in tier 1 areas.

 

Therefore the less heavy "modern" balls may hit the head with greater force given they may be travelling faster at impact .

 

Mentioned that a few times in the past.

 

I think they established that their training regimes .. such as having balls on string for heading practice (as quoted by Sir Geoff Hurst) combined with the wet heavier ball didnt help. Suffice to say it will be interesting to see what the modern era has in store for our current crop of players .. but as a lad that grew up in the late 60s I know which ball id rather head when it was chucking it down no matter how hard ya kicked it !

 

If were in Tier 1 Humberside Plod would still want the pubs closing. In fact they would like to close all the pubs in Hull on a match day even when there isn't a pandemic.

 

I'd hazard a guess that once the "apparently" lighter ball came into existence, you started to head the ball far more frequently than the old soggy bastards ! You may need to get tested if you've played for more than 30 years

 

Ermmm have you seen footage of the old games .. it was pretty much all hoof ball from the keeper with the ball dropping from the sky .. it was all about heading the ball .. even the trickier wingers were just that .. beat their man and cross .. I'd hazard a guess there was more heading of the ball then there is now tbf.

 

I'd say the opposite - only daft bastard centre halves (like me) and centre forwards were frequent headers of the ball in inclement weather in the late 50's and the '60/70's.
Every bugger heads the ball these days - even the goalkeepers.

 

But not as you suggest when kicked at high velocity .. that still falls to the daft buggers like centre halfs (which i was also one) and old fashioned strikers. There is far more skill involved these days the way a player will caress a cross or pass rather then just lump it tbf.

 

I played full back because I didn't like heading the ball.

 

Lol you wuss lll

 

If they were really short of players, they'd sometimes let me be sub.

 

Marine? Normal? Standard?

 

Oh yes. Completely. More proof is that I started out as a left winger.

 

In the old school teams the full back positions were usually filled by those who were keen but didn't quite possess the skill level .. I got picked as a centre back after starting as a full back because of my ability to head the ball ... explains an awful lot I tell ya !

 

It's not always the actual ball that gives your noggin a shake though.

I used to stick my head in to attempt a goal, or to defend. The worst was when I went to score. The cross was around medium height and I went for it with my head. The keeper collected the ball and the same time, his hip caught me square on my coconut.

I didn't go down Paddy Kenny style, but I did see stars and the weird thing was I spent the rest of the game in a bit of a mist.

It sounds silly I know, but I felt kind of, upset? I felt down, miserable...

I can't explain it really. Concussion I suppose. But I was told I was a lazy **** at the end of that game and we lost 4-1. This might explain the posts I make on here

So imo, it's not just heading the ball that causes long term damage. It's what can happen when you stick your head in there.

Ryan Mason springs to mind.