Former England captain wins landmark ruling to have brain injuries suffered playing as 'industrial accidents'

Former England captain Dave Watson has won a landmark ruling to have the brain injuries he suffered during his playing career classified as “industrial accidents”, paving the way for footballers with dementia to receive benefits.

With assistance from the Professional Footballers’ Association, Watson’s wife, Penny, compiled evidence of 10 serious head injuries during her husband’s 20-year playing career which she believes contributed to his early onset dementia.

The incidents were from between December 1971 and April 1983, and included a series of clashes of heads with opponents, as well as an elbow to the head and being punched by an opposition goalkeeper during an aerial challenge.

Watson’s consultant believes that he is likely to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - a type of dementia associated with head impacts - and Penny believes that the condition was caused by head impacts and his repeated heading of the ball.

Watson, who is now 75, won 65 England caps and was a centre-back for clubs including Manchester City, Sunderland, Southampton, Stoke City and Rotherham during a distinguished career.

Research by the University of Glasgow has found that former centre-backs are five times more likely than the wider population to develop dementia. A coroner ruled in 2002 that Jeff Astle, the former England striker, had died of industrial disease as a result of repeated heading and this further recognition of the link between football and neurodegenerative disease paves the way for statutory help while players are still alive.

The Watsons received official confirmation from the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments that all 10 of their specified incidents had been recognised as industrial accidents and he will now be medically assessed to determine the extent of his disability benefit.

This is paid on a sliding scale, depending on the severity of the illness from £36.58p for what is deemed 20 per cent level of disability up to a maximum of £182.90p a week.

There is a separate wider claim to have dementia in football recognised as an industrial disease but, as revealed by Telegraph Sport earlier this year, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council have decided to group their football inquiry with boxing, rugby and horse racing.

Families of former players now fear that a ruling will take years to decide.

Penny Watson stressed that she had gone through the industrial accident process to help other families and improve recognition of football’s brain injury crisis. “We hope it will set a precedent,” she said. “It is about recognition of the situation and fighting for those who desperately need help financially.” As well as the PFA, Penny Watson was helped by football fans who located footage of various incidents in order to support their claim.

A disease usually needs to be twice as prevalent in a particular industry in order to be accepted as an industrial illness. The 2019 Glasgow study showed that footballers were 3.5 times more likely to die of dementia than the wider population.