The names have disappeared off England's shirts for the second half of this evening's friendly against Switzerland at Wembley as a gesture of support to Alzheimer's Society. All tops will be auctioned after the game to raise funds for the charity.
An estimated 900,000 people are living with dementia in the UK, ten times the capacity of Wembley, with research indicating one in 14 people over the age of 65 are affected and a new case is diagnosed every three minutes. Organisers say that the nameless shirts will "draw attention to how people with dementia lose precious memories, even the names of their favourite football players."
It is one of several steps being taken by the Football Association in its partnership with Alzheimer's Society, which aims to raise funds and awareness along with creating support systems for people within the game impacted by the disease.
Kate Lee, the Alzheimer’s Society chief executive, said: “As the squad walk out in these thought-provoking shirts, we hope it will get fans up and down the country to sit up and take note of the reality of living with dementia.
"Football should be unforgettable - I hope it makes a massive impact that ripples from the Royal Box to the stands and into homes across the nation, inspiring people to support our work to raise awareness and reduce stigma and help us make sure no-one faces dementia alone.”
This is the senior team's first game of the World Cup year but Gareth Southgate is without a host of players initially named in the squad, including Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale and Chelsea full backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James. England face Ivory Coast in another friendly at Wembley on Tuesday.
