Jennifer Stuart, wife of former Dundee, Dundee United and Montrose player Alex has said:
“Alex had a good career in the game, winning the league with Dundee in the early 60s and coming close to winning the Scottish Cup against Rangers just a few years later.
“After a few difficult years, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018. He has declined fairly rapidly and we made the incredibly difficult decision to move him into a care home in 2020.
“It’s obvious to us that this was caused by his time as a professional footballer and we were shocked to learn of the lack of support available from either the Scottish Government or the SFA.
“This is surely an industrial injury and as such should be classified as one in the law.”
FAMILIES DEMAND INJURY TIME CHANGES
Families of former footballers suffering neurodegenerative diseases have swung behind the Injury Time campaign led by Scottish Labour’s MSP for North East Scotland and the party’s Finance spokesperson Michael Marra.
Compelling evidence has shown that former footballers are 3 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases than the general population, rising to 5 times as likely depending on the position they played.
Marra has called on the Scottish Government to recognise the evidence and designate brain injuries in football as Industrial Injuries, opening up access to additional benefits and support for the affected players.
There is growing support across the football world for this campaign and today we announce the support of the families of high profile sufferers, Billy McNeill, Frank Kopel and Alex Stuart.
You can read more of the coverage of the campaign here: