With the fans’ expectation growing as the attack unfolded, Jeff Astle would get in the perfect position as the cross came in before beating the defenders to the ball and heading it into the net with unstoppable power.
His bravery and skill helped him become one of West Brom’s greatest ever goalscorers and earned him the nickname of the King.
But dementia stole all Jeff’s memories of his brilliant football career, during which he scored over 200 goals – more than half of them with his head.
Tomorrow marks 20 years since the England striker died aged 59.
As his body lay in the chapel of rest, his daughter Dawn made a promise, saying: “If football did this to you, the world will know.”
His family felt sure all those headers had damaged his brain. So did Clive Clark, the late West Bromwich Albion winger, who blamed himself for his teammate’s death.
Jeff’s widow Laraine, 75, says: “Clive rang me in tears and he asked, ‘Was it my crosses that killed him?’. He was heartbroken. I told him, ‘No, Clive, it wasn’t your fault’.”
Keeping Dawn’s promise proved more difficult than she imagined.
Two decades later, the Jeff Astle Foundation has identified over 600 footballers who have been diagnosed with dementia and supported countless families.
But the sport’s governing bodies have only recently begun to acknowledge the potential risks of heading the ball and introduce protection for players.
Dawn, 54, says: “I can’t believe it took 20 years to start making the game safer when footballers are dying. Nothing would have happened if we hadn’t kicked up a fuss. That responsibility should never have fallen on our shoulders. It has been torment.”
The first signs of Jeff’s illness emerged in the late-1990s during his last appearance on TV show Fantasy Football League, where he had a weekly slot singing with host and West Brom fan Frank Skinner.
In the few minutes it took to walk from his dressing room, where he had just finished practising, to the studio, Jeff forgot the words. “It was like he’d never heard it before,” said Laraine, from Burton in Staffs.
As her concerns grew, she dragged Jeff to a doctor who diagnosed him with dementia.
Within four years, his personality changed completely and he no longer recognised the giant photo in his living room of him scoring the winning goal in the 1968 FA Cup final.
Dawn says: “He was surrounded by England caps, medals, and photographs but he couldn’t remember playing football. Everything football gave him, it took away.”
Jeff’s death was as harrowing as his rapid decline. On Dawn’s 34th birthday she performed CPR on her dad as he choked to death on the food she had prepared.
A postmortem revealed he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a form of dementia known as “boxer’s brain”, caused by repeated blows to the head.
The coroner ruled his injuries were caused by years of heading the ball and recorded a verdict of industrial disease, blaming his football career for his death.
Laraine was offered two tickets to an England friendly – not even enough to take her three daughters – and the Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association said there would be a 10-year study into dangers of heading the ball. But the probe was quietly shelved.
“There was no way I was going to let them brush his death under the carpet,” Laraine says. “We knew Jeff couldn’t be the first and wouldn’t be the last. We wanted the truth for all those families suffering.”
After years with no progress, the family unveiled a banner demanding “Justice for Jeff” during a West Brom game in 2014.
But it didn’t have the desired effect. In desperation, Dawn even considered unfurling the banner outside Wembley then smashing the stadium’s windows.
It was the support of the West Brom fans – who helped display the banner at matches – who convinced her to persevere with a more measured approach. Laraine says: “I don’t think we could have done it without them. They kept us going.
“Against Aston Villa, the two sets of fans were bickering, but as soon that banner went up they stopped and started applauding. That’s the respect they had for Jeff.”
Then came a hat-trick of breakthrough moments. First, scientist Professor Willie Stewart asked to examine Jeff’s brain, which the family donated for medical research.
The tests in 2014 showed his brain was so badly damaged it had split in two.
Then the Mirror revealed four of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team – Nobby Stiles, Martin Peters, Jack Charlton and Ray Wilson – had dementia. Sir Bobby Charlton was later diagnosed with the disease too, piling more pressure on the sport’s governing bodies.
Finally, the FA appointed former BBC supremo Greg Dyke as chairman. He invited Jeff’s family to Wembley, apologised, and promised to listen to their concerns.
That paved the way for a study by Prof Stewart, funded by the FA and the PFA. In 2019 it revealed footballers were three and a half times more likely to develop dementia and other degenerative neurological diseases.
Dawn had kept her promise to expose the beautiful game’s ugly secret and things started to improve. The PFA even sought her help with its more proactive approach.
The FA has introduced new concussion protocols, banned children under 12 from heading the ball, and limited heading in training across the board. But there are still doubts enough is being done.
The struggle has taken its toll and Dawn has required several kinds of therapy.
She says: “I was so full of grief, I couldn’t focus on anything else. It feels as raw today as it did when Dad died. That has been made worse by the shameful inaction of the footballing authorities. I will never forgive them.”
The FA said it has helped lead the way in ground-breaking research into the links with dementia and football and it has an “unwavering commitment to support thorough research” into the subject, including a joint action plan with PFA Premier League, EFL on “understanding, promoting and protecting brain health” aiming to find out out “any additional” ways to support current and ex-professional footballers.
Laraine has never recovered from the stress of losing Jeff the day after burying her mum. She developed rheumatism and takes immunosuppressants, making her more vulnerable to Covid and forcing her to isolate for much of the past two years.
Being separated from her youngest grandson Joseph, nine, broke her heart again.
Stifling sobs, she says: “They brought him to see me. I pressed my hand against the car window and he did the same on the inside.
“He’s a West Brom fan and athletic like Jeff. They would have been the best of friends.”
Despite their suffering, the family are far from finished. Their next goal is a sustainable fund to help the families of former footballers with dementia, including a respite care home and specialist nurses.
But this week is a time to remember Jeff and his legacy. On Saturday, Joseph will be West Brom’s mascot for their match against Peterborough and the family will be guests of honour at the Hawthorns.
Laraine says: “We wouldn’t be where we are today if we hadn’t donated Jeff’s brain, if he hadn’t believed in organ donation.
“We had a lovely thank you letter from the hospital at the time, saying his brain would help people around the world learn more about the causes of dementia.
“It’s remarkable to see how true those words were.”
