FOOTBALL clubs and schools should do more to publicise the dangers of heading the ball to players, parents and children.

That was the message from campaigner Dawn Astle, daughter of former Weymouth FC striker Jeff Astle, at a brain injury conference at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton.

Astle, who bagged 35 goals in 50 appearances for the Terras in the mid 1970s, died in 2002 aged 59 of degenerative brain disease which a coroner ruled was caused by repeatedly heading heavy leather footballs during his career as a professional footballer.

The Astle family launched the Jeff Astle Foundation and campaigned for the FA to conduct research into the link between degenerative brain diseases and heading footballs.

Astle made his name playing for West Bromwich Albion and also played five times for England.

This year Football Association (FA) chairman Greg Dyke said experts would investigate head injuries in the sport.

Speaking in Brighton on Wednesday, Miss Astle, 47, said: "I absolutely think Sussex leagues, clubs and schools can raise awareness of the dangers.

They have no doctor in the tunnel – children particularly should not be allowed back on the field after a head injury. It's not about scaremongering it's about putting guidelines in place.

"For too long this has been the silent scandal of football."

Legal firm ASB Aspire and Lewes-based charity Hurstwood Headway Park invited experts and those affected by brain injury to share their experiences and research at the conference.

An FA spokesman said the issue was taken "very seriously" and it fully supports the Astle family and the foundation.

He said: "We are currently finalising new guidelines as worked up by an independent expert head injury panel, led by pre-eminent neurosurgeon Peter Hamlyn."

Dawn Astle grew up immersed in football.
Her father Jeff was the high profile West Bromwich Albion and later England player and she was so proud of him.

She never knew on her birthday in 2002 she would watch him die aged just 59 - killed by the game and career he so loved because heading the ball had given him a degenerative brain disease.

Born on May 13, 1942, his family had little money and he found solace in football like so many youngsters of his era.

"He never owned football boots and spent his time waiting for people to turn up on the rec with a football," Miss Astle, now 47, said when she spoke at a brain injury conference in Brighton yesterday.

Sports teachers and talent scouts recognised his skill and he became one of West Bromwich Albion's best-loved players, also winning five caps for England.

"But to us he was just our Dad. He lived his life to the full. Like an electrical charge, you always knew when he entered the room. He was always laughing and joking," Miss Astle said.

In 1998 he began to forget things - he could not remember his grandson's name when he was born, he asked if his late mother was still alive.

His wife Laraine first noticed something was wrong when Mr Astle appeared on a live broadcast of Baddiel and Skinner 's Fantasy Football television show and became nervous at singing a song.

"We didn't understand what was happening, he was never ill. 'Fit as a fiddle I am' he would say. At 55 he was diagnosed with dementia and the early onset of Alzheimer's.

"He would try to eat things that weren't edible, he would open the door in a moving car. He was aggressive, he was afraid to go outside, he became socially unacceptable. We lost a part of him each day," Miss Astle said.

January 19, 2002, is a day that haunts her.

"I can see my Dad, aged 59, coming through the front door. He shuffled and walked with a stoop.

He started to cough and we took him outside for some fresh air. His coughing was getting worse.

He was choking, we were screaming at him to spit whatever it was out. He couldn't and choked to death in front of us all - his wife, children and grandchildren. We tried but there was nothing we could do to stop it."

Laraine lost her husband and her mother within eight days of each other.

The landmark ruling at his inquest, death from industrial disease, was a shock to everyone.

Coroner Andrew Haigh said he sustained trauma to the brain consistent with heading the ball.

"The game dad loved, mastered and inspired so many with had ultimately killed him. When he died he didn't even know he was a footballer."

The Astle family donated his brain to research and a specialist diagnosed him with the worst case of degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy he had ever seen.

Years of campaigning followed with Justice For Jeff - calling on the The Football Association (FA) and the Professional Footballers' Association to acknowledge the health risks of headers and issued guidelines for players and clubs.

This year FA chairman Greg Dyke told the family - who have now launched the Jeff Astle Foundation - a panel of experts would be commissioned to study head injuries in the sport.

The foundation supports families, campaigns for education and calls for independent research so others do not suffer the way Mr Astle and his family did.

It has been inundated with calls from families of former footballers, including a number of high profile players diagnosed with Alzheimer's, all seeking advice and help.

Visit thejeffastlefoundation.co.uk.