IN any sport, the memories are always there of, whether it’s for club or country, winning a league or winning a cup.

But of course in football, some of our biggest clubs can win domestic things on a regular basis.

I suppose from their point of view, to win a European Cup is a highlight and of course for the national team, the World Cup. There is nothing bigger. It just shows how big when our national team, England, has only ever won it once and it was way, way back in 1966.

So obviously that team and their manager are legends for life.

Sadly age creeps in and we read recently unfortunately another one of that team has passed on and it was Nobby Stiles.

Not only was he a top-class international footballer, he was an outstanding character in the squad. He caught everybody’s attention, after the game as much as in the final, which of course was held at Wembley. When the team was doing their parade around the pitch with 100,000 supporters still in there, he not only had his socks round his ankles, probably had his boots off and thrown them into the crowd as well, but unlike others, a big grin he had on his face showed he’d also taken his teeth out.

I remember reading that one of the other players, when they were getting ready afterwards, got a surprise putting his hand in his pocket to find a little wrapped up item he didn’t know was there. He opened it up and found Nobby’s teeth.

But the main point which caught the eye was of course the fact that sadly for the later years of his life he had suffered from dementia. Bearing in mind that it came about in the same few days that the Charlton family had announced another England superstar, Bobby, is suffering from dementia and we all know his brother Jack died recently and for many years he had had the same thing.

This of course brought attention to the question which has been asked for many years now, did heading that old leather ball, particularly when it was soaking wet, cause this dementia? Remembering so many names that have been given out, and without naming them there are five people who spring to mind, who in my time at Saints either played in our team or were on my staff. All five are still around, but most of them in homes, but all have got the dreaded dementia.

It started to make me wonder whether there was any truth in the heading the ball situation. On the other hand, it’s a bit like the terrible coronavirus, or even flu, that so many people have this but not all get mentioned in newspapers.

It coincided as well with a message I got from one of my previous clubs Grimsby Town, who I was with before joining Saints, that one of my team which actually won the league, called Matt Tees, who has been a total legend there ever since, had sadly passed away.

Of course I have known for a long time that he is yet another who has had dementia. Another of that team, David Boylen, who I’ve always said was the Alan Ball of my team then, similar build to Alan, but a midfield general, brilliant player, who has had the same illness for many, many years. There are even others in that team.

Who knows, is it to do with football? Because I’m sure there are others since those days who didn’t have to use that old fashioned football. I think dementia does come to people more so who have had a head injury.

I remember players who weren’t defenders. The five I’ve mentioned, nearly all weren’t defenders in their playing days, but as someone pointed out to me, they weren’t necessarily headers they may have been a forward rather than a defender but they had to try and win crosses and sometimes clashed heads with another defender.

It is very sad and it is not just an injury, which eventually can be cured, as we saw for instance with our own Danny Ings, who will be sorely missed with a bad injury to his knee, which means he may be out for apparently up to six weeks.

But at least normal injuries don’t affect the mind and the brain. Whilst it will be wonderful for someone to find a cure for the virus which is going around the world, to me it would be equally wonderful if a cure for dementia could be found, not just for footballers but for all people who have it.

To finish on a more lighter note, I remember when I joined Grimsby I had been manager at Doncaster for three years. The first year we won the league title, the chairman then said I was a wonderful young manager. Two years later we got relegated and he said I was useless.

Fortunately for me, a gentleman called Paddy Hamilton, who was chairman of Grimsby Town, had a business in the area and apparently kept his eye on me and within a week I was given the Grimsby job.

In the interview I was told you are taking on 12 players, they had got rid of the ones they didn’t want before the new manager came, but you can have two more providing they are free transfers.

I said to the trainer on the first morning, get the team together for my meeting. I suppose we could’ve had it in a telephone box, but he got the 12 players into the dressing room, I took a deep breath, opened the door to be confronted by 12 players lounging around with smoke in the air.

Knowing the ground in those days was right next to the sea, I had heard about a thing called sea fret. I thought the windows must be open and it’s coming in. But then I found out it wasn’t that, it was a player sat in the corner puffing a pipe. I couldn’t believe it and it turned out to be Matt Tees.

I recognised him, he was my centre-forward, he was frail looking, not too tall and I thought oh dear, what chance have we got.

In a nutshell we finished that season top of the league and he scored 29 goals. Puffing the pipe proved to be a bit of a habit for him, but on matchdays I made him do it in the boot room, not the dressing room.

Sadly I heard he had died this week, but he will be forever remembered at Grimsby, his name like all of that team is up on the walls in rooms around the ground.

It’s so sad but god bless him and life goes on.

I am writing before Saints play Newcastle. Here’s hoping as you read this, Saints won and are top of the league.