Gordon Taylor denies PFA was ‘asleep at the wheel’ as footballers died from dementia

Gordon Taylor has strongly denied he and the Professional Footballers’ Association have been ‘asleep at the wheel’ while dementia has claimed the lives of former players – and his members.

Taylor, the chief executive of the PFA, appeared before the Department of Culture Media and Sport Committee today to answer questions on dementia after ex-player and pundit Chris Sutton had previously told MPs that the veteran union rep had ‘blood on his hands’.

The PFA has been accused of being too slow to recognise a link between dementia and  heading a football, which campaigners believe has put thousands of professional and amateur players’ lives at risk.

PFA chief Gordon Taylor has defended his organisation’s  record on dementia in front of MPs

Former footballers and MP’s had taken Sportsmail’s dementia campaign to the Government 

In the exchanges, the committee chairman MP Julian Knight told Taylor the PFA had been too slow to act.

‘I think it’s an unfair criticism because I know what we do, and I’m perfectly happy to show anybody what we have done, what we’re doing and what we intend to do,’ responded Taylor. ‘ But… it needs more than just the PFA to be involved.’ 

Knight asked Taylor whether the union had been ‘asleep at the wheel’ and Taylor said: ‘We’ve never been asleep on it.’

MP Julian Knight chairs the DCMS committee

Sutton, whose father, Mike, died of dementia following a career in professional football,  responded to the exchanges, which were screened on Parliament TV, by describing them on Twitter as an ‘absolute farce’, claiming the MPs were not asking the right questions. 

Asked whether Sutton was right and he had ‘blood on his hands’, Taylor said: ‘It is a very emotive subject. Chris Sutton is one of those people who I speak to in a civilised manner. I tried to explain, he was offered help in regards to his father who was a contemporary of mine when I was playing.

‘He was offered the chance to come in, see what we are doing and what we plan to do in the future.

‘I am always prepared to put my head above the parapet because what we do needs to be out there. I am more than prepared to do that with anybody.’

PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor appeared before  MPs on football’s dementia scandal 

The committee has previously heard explosive testimony from medics and campaigners about the impact of head injuries in sport, particularly football.

Dr Willie Stewart, a celebrated neuropathologist at the University of Glasgow, gave evidence last month and presented his research, which concluded in 2019 that former footballers were 3.5 times more likely to die of neurodegenerative diseases than the general public. 

Dawn Astle, whose father Jeff died in 2002 aged 59 from brain injuries that resulted from repeated heading during his career at West Bromwich Albion, has told MPs that more research and support for players, as well as new rules to limit heading in training, is needed now.

And in one of the most compelling appearances,  Sportsmail columnist, Sutton, spoke of the death of his own father, who died on Boxing Day following a 10-year battle with dementia.

Chris Sutton (R) has spearheaded Sportsmail’s campaign for football to do more to tackle dementia. His dad, Mike, an ex-player, died on Boxing Day after 10-year battle with dementia

The former Blackburn Rovers, Celtic and Norwich City striker pulled no punches when he took his turn before the politicians claiming football has responded too slowly to the dementia crisis.

‘[The FA and PFA] have not been interested,’ said Sutton. ‘Gordon Taylor has blood on his hands.’

Taylor’s appearance before MPs comes after family members of former footballers who died from the disease wrote to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee calling for the PFA chief executive to be quizzed. 

During a previous DCMS session, chair Julian Knight pointed out ‘£250,000, which was Dr Willie Stewart’s entire budget for his research, is six weeks’ salary for Gordon Taylor at the head of the PFA, which I think says an awful lot.’ 

Questioning of the PFA chief is a significant step for Sportsmail’s campaign to have football’s dementia scandal properly addressed and those in charge held to account.

Columnist Chris Sutton, whose father Mike also played football professionally and died of dementia in December, has been at the heart of our fight for change.

Sutton was one of those who put his name to a letter sent to the DCMS committee last month. Written by John Stiles, the son of late 1966 World Cup hero Nobby, it urged MPs to quiz Taylor and claimed the PFA had let their members down, describing the organisation as a ‘byword for scandal and cronyism’.

Dawn Astle’s father Jeff (right) was the first footballer to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – a type of dementia associated with repeated head impacts

Taylor told the BBC his union had been the best in the world at tackling dementia. But the letter stated: ‘Taylor offers no evidence to support his claims to have done more than any other union.’ 

In January, the PFA announced some significant  steps towards addressing the sport’s dementia scandal.

In a victory for Sportsmail’s campaign – but more importantly in a significant move which could help those in dire need – football’s trade union announced measures aimed at assisting the large number of former players with cruel, neurodegenerative diseases.

They included the creation of a dedicated dementia department and the PFA  said it would fight harder to have brain degeneration in footballers defined as an industrial disease.

Damian Hopley, chief executive of the Rugby Players Association, and Paul Struthers, director at the Professional Players Federation. Medical experts Dr John Etherington and Dr Richard Sylvester were also due to give evidence. 

Dawn Astle is being appointed in advisory role by the Professional Footballers’ Association as they take steps towards tackling dementia in football, a campaign led by Sportsmail