Former Norwich striker Iwan Roberts keen to improve awareness of dementia.

Iwan Roberts is bothered by the lack of assurance. It’s the idea that something terrible is happening to football players who aren’t all that different from him, and he has no idea what’s in store.

He feels OK, and he has been told he is. But, like all of us, he will occasionally overlook a detail. Perhaps a name will slip his mind, or where he left his keys, and in those moments, this 52-year-old will reflect on everything he has seen, heard, and experienced. He thinks of Nobby Stiles, Jack Charlton, Martin Peters, and Ray Wilson. The lost boys of 1966. He will recall Dave Watson, Jeff Astle, and other local stars such as giant Duncan Forbes from his former club Norwich. They, like so many others, became lost in the fog of dementia. So he questions himself if he will as well; if there will be a fee for nearly 800 games between 1986 and 2005, with more than 200 goals scored between the Premier League and League Two, a massive chunk of which were scored with his head.

‘I think half of them were headers,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘By the time I was 18, I was 6ft 3in tall, which may have contributed to my first contract with Watford. My head was an important component of my game. Every custodian targeted me with goal kicks. In training, I was probably heading at least 100 balls per week. ‘When I was in Watford’s youth team in the 1980s, Dean Holdsworth and I would go out after each session with two wingers and 50 balls. They would cross them one after the other, from left to right. We had a terrific time doing this. But you would come off after 45 minutes and your head would be sore. If you didn’t catch it right it was very painful — a brain freeze times 100.

Honestly, I wouldn’t alter a thing about my profession. I totally loved it. But what we’re learning about dementia now, and seeing so many former players with it, makes you think. I don’t want to seem morbid or as if I’m plotting my own death. But, looking at Jeff Astle, he was diagnosed at 54 or 55 and played in a similar way to me — strong in the air. He died at 59, and I wouldn’t say I’m concerned about myself, but I’m 52 and want to be mindful. I want to know if dementia is waiting for me. If it is, I want to be able to catch it early and slow it down.’

Roberts is an interesting figure in what has become a crisis for football. While too many in power within the game are paying only lip-service to the disease, the former Wales striker is among the retired players who have put themselves forward to assist research.

He decided around a year ago to participate in the SCORES research, which is led by respected neurologist Dr Michael Grey. Grey has been following dementia signs in a group of 34 former professional players from his base at the University of East Anglia. Mark Bright is one of the sample members, all of whom are above the age of 40, and are required to take online examinations every three months for several years. ‘These tests largely evaluate the time it takes for a message to get from your brain to your hands,’ Roberts explains. ‘It is stuff like matching items on a screen, so it could be matching 1 to A, 2 to B and so on. It’s easy to start with but when you get up to 10 the screen is congested and it becomes more of a test. They want to build up a bank of results over time and track where you are with it.

‘For me, it just made sense. I have a family, I owe it to myself and them to know what is going on. I have been a bit forgetful the past few years and usually I think it is because I don’t concentrate but you would want to know, wouldn’t you?’

The perplexing question is why Roberts’ desire for understanding on this critically important subject is not more clear to people with influence and money. The Professional Footballers’ Association has funded three studies, and its finances for 2018 and 2019 reflect a £325,000 expenditure in dementia and concussion research during that time. But is it really enough from a wealthy union when research shows that footballers are three-and-a-half times more likely than the general population to die from dementia? When they were previously contacted by Dr Grey, who wanted to raise awareness of his study among their members, he claims the ball was passed to the FA. Against the backdrop, SCORE is trying to raise £100,000 via crowdfunding and has so far managed just £700. Therefore, it is natural to wonder why far greater support isn’t forthcoming from the relevant authorities.

‘I do think the PFA and the FA could do more than they have to help,’ says Roberts.

As an ex-player, he is hesitant to play the blame game for the origins of a problem that stretches back to a period of less knowledge. However, he also believes that what science has discovered should be taken seriously, particularly in young football. He also believes that more has to be known about present concerns, moving away from the myth that dementia is an issue isolated to the period of heavy, rain-soaked footballs. ‘I don’t think a heading restriction at some junior levels is a horrible idea,’ he says. ‘We now understand that the brain is still maturing in your teens. Yes, the balls are lighter; yet, a lighter ball flies and arrives faster.

As ever on this topic, more research is needed. As ever, a few folk in power could do more to help that effort.

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