Latest news with #DeanWindass
New York Times
21-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Why do so many footballers go bankrupt?
It was the brown envelopes that kept falling through the letterbox that filled Dean Windass with foreboding. Windass was a spiky but effective striker whose 18-year senior career had taken him through all four divisions, including spells in the Premier League with Bradford City, Middlesbrough and Hull City, plus the Scottish top flight with Aberdeen. While he was never one of the game's superstars, he had earned good money at a time when English football was booming. Advertisement Yet, seven years after his 2009 retirement, Windass was effectively broke, his accounts emptied by a tax bill for £164,000 ($223,000 in today's exchange) — a legacy of an ill-advised investment in the movie industry — and a divorce settlement. 'I remember going to a pizza place and there was a couple ordering when we walked in,' Windass tells The Athletic. 'I read this lad's lips and he said, 'That's Dean Windass, he's just gone bankrupt'. It was embarrassing. 'You retire and you leave football behind. That's hard enough. To have this (bankruptcy) just made it worse. The stress was killing me.' Windass, though, is not alone. Former England internationals David James, Wes Brown and Lee Hendrie have all been declared bankrupt since ending careers which took them to the highest level, while His Majesty's Revenues and Customs (HMRC, the UK's tax authority) also filed a petition against Emile Heskey, the ex-Liverpool and England striker, over unpaid taxes totalling £1.6million last year. Just last month, former England player Trevor Sinclair was made bankrupt after 'burying his head in the sand' over a £36,000 tax debt. Soon after, another ex-England international, Shaun Wright-Phillips, was petitioned for bankruptcy by HMRC at London's High Court. A representative of Wright-Phillips told The Telegraph that he was unaware of the matter and promised it would be 'strenuously contested.' And they are just the recent ones. Jermaine Pennant, Celestine Babayaro, Chris Sutton, Asamoah Gyan and Royston Drenthe all had elite careers only to run out of money in retirement, while further back, Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho, two of the sport's all-time greats, fell on hard times once the lights went out on their careers. Every player in such circumstances will have a different story to tell, although there tend to be common themes: misguided investments, costly divorces or a lavish lifestyle that got out of hand. But why do many suffer these financial pitfalls, and what could football do to prevent it from happening so frequently? The England squad that won the Under-17 World Cup in India in 2017 looks more impressive as time has gone on. Led by attacking talisman Phil Foden, whose two goals inspired a 5-2 defeat of Spain in the final, that crop also included Marc Guehi, Jadon Sancho, Emile Smith Rowe, Conor Gallagher, Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi — all beginning international journeys that would lead to England's senior ranks and some of Europe's biggest clubs. Advertisement Less celebrated, but just as important to the team's success, was Curtis Anderson. England's goalkeeper for six of their seven games at that tournament while in Manchester City's academy, Anderson quit professional football in 2022, at the age of 22, following the end of a two-year contract with EFL club Wycombe Wanderers, during which he never made a first-team appearance for them and was twice loaned out to non-League sides. There had been no way through at City before that, a club he had joined from north-west neighbours Blackpool as a schoolboy for £15,000, and a dwindling enthusiasm for the game led Anderson to study for a diploma in financial planning. 'A club can't give you financial advice, but in terms of education, young players get minimal support,' says Anderson, now 24 and head of sports financial planning at Markland Hill Wealth. 'We used to get talks from people when we were 16 or 17 about the importance of being careful with gambling, with alcohol, different things like that. I might be wrong, but I don't remember anyone coming in and talking about finance. 'The only education I got from within the club was my goalkeeping coach saying the odd thing. It wasn't financial advice, just a few little words about putting some (money) away and being careful. He was like a dad figure, trying to look out for you. It was never the club. It's a sticky subject.' Anderson has visited clubs in the Premier League and EFL in his new career and often finds footballers unsure of what to do with their wealth. Their wages will be spent on fast cars, big houses and expensive watches, but plans are not always long-term. 'A lot of the lads who buy into what we try to do are the ones who are a bit older,' says Anderson. 'Say they're 28 or 29, knowing they'd better do something. But they could've made their lives so much easier if they'd started off at 21. Advertisement 'I've been in to see clubs and academy players and I wouldn't ask or tell them to do anything. I would only ever say to think about these good habits now. You can get used to a lifestyle, and you never think it will end. That's what I'm seeing now. Even in the Premier League. I try to get simple concepts across, and it can be difficult because they've never had to think about it.' Soufyan Daafi can tell you a similar background story to Anderson. Two decades ago, he was in the youth setup at Dutch club Ajax, until the age of 16, playing alongside his close friend Kenneth Vermeer, a goalkeeper who made it all the way to become a full Netherlands international. Together, they founded Sport Legacy eight years ago and now look after the interests of over 100 athletes internationally. 'Education is the first part,' says Daafi. 'A lot of players have a certain lifestyle but once your football salary stops and you have to pay a mortgage and provide for your family, you will have a gap. 'There are also some people in the industry who take advantage of football players. People told me not to start because footballers are dumb, they spend all their money. I wanted to show them. I wanted to minimise the number of players going broke. My goal is to change the perspective by entering at the youth level, give education.' Neither Anderson nor Daafi would ever begrudge their clients spending their earnings, but both stress the need for a balance. Buying an expensive car is perhaps inevitable with the huge disposable income attached to a Premier League contract. As are the designer clothes and lavish holidays. Ryan Babel, the former Liverpool and Netherlands winger, knows that. 'I had my fair share,' says Babel, who now has an ambassadorial role for Sport Legacy in Dubai. 'I remember buying a Bentley when I was 21 and a Rolls-Royce when I was 25, but overall I didn't really spend too much money on cars. Advertisement 'It was more on the lifestyle. Going on a holiday, renting an expensive house, spending money on going out. The usual stuff. I also recall paying for everyone (among his group of friends) — every single thing. At one point, I had to put my foot down and say it wasn't Christmas every day. You become more mature and understand that it isn't sustainable.' Babel credits his parents for 'teaching him the value of money' while growing up. 'The game doesn't provide you with any know-how,' he says. 'It's your own responsibility to manage your finances. You don't always finish school because of the age you go into professional sport, so you don't complete your academic studies and know how to deal with a lot of money. That's often where it goes wrong for the guys. There isn't the guidance there. 'Some of these guys are like walking ATMs and the people around them know that. They want to enjoy the ride as much as they can. That's unfortunate, but it comes from a place where the players usually want to help others and feel acknowledged. 'But the sad reality is that once it's gone, you see the other people (in a player's entourage) disappearing. We know a lot of stories like that. You see their environment disappear. It's sad.' There are no official numbers that record the number of former footballers ending up bankrupt. Figures put forward by XPro, a charity for ex-players, suggested in 2013 it was a fate that befell three in five within five years of retirement but those numbers have been disputed. Gordon Taylor, when head of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), told the BBC he believed a more accurate figure was between '10 and 20 per cent'. Nobody, though, would dispute that the frequency of high-profile bankruptcy cases jars with playing careers where millions can be earned in a matter of months. It is estimated that Premier League players now make an average of over £100,000 a week in a division where the 20 clubs' combined wage bills climbed to £4.1billion in the 2022-23 season. Advertisement The numbers were smaller at the turn of the century but still insufficient to insulate some of the Premier League's most recognisable names. James, who won 53 caps for England and played for Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, West Ham and Portsmouth among others, was declared bankrupt in 2014 and forced to sell off his personal memorabilia collection. It was widely reported at the time that his divorce from wife Tanya had cost the former goalkeeper £3million in 2005. Hendrie, the former Villa midfielder, is another. HMRC filed a bankruptcy petition against Hendrie when he was still a player in 2012, with his financial worries contributing to depression and 'five or six' attempts at killing himself, according to an interview with The Guardian in 2020. 'My intentions were to look after my family and put my money into investments,' Hendrie told BBC Radio 4 the following year. 'But along the way, I had a divorce which hit me hard in the pocket and then I bought houses which turned out to be bad investments. It seemed like all the people advising me didn't have any answers. I had nowhere to turn.' Windass knows such stories well. He suffered his own struggles with mental health after ending his playing career, and his finances were placed under strain as he was pursued by HMRC. 'I was playing for Middlesbrough in 2001 and we had someone come to the training ground offering the chance to invest in the film industry,' says Windass, who was on £30,000 a week at the height of his career and now continues to pay HMRC £500 a month. 'I didn't know much about it but I looked on this form and there was every celebrity you could think of that was part of it. I'm thinking, 'If they've gone into it, I'll get involved'. 'I invested thinking that, after 15 years, I'd get this nice lump sum. The years went on and I kept getting these brown envelopes through the door. I was thinking, 'What the bloody hell is this?' To cut a long story short, I got a tax bill for £164,000. Advertisement 'I paid 40 per cent tax throughout my career when earning your big money. I wasn't a tax dodger, I just went into the wrong scheme. I look back now and obviously it was a bad decision.' Tax issues and misguided investments are often at the root of bankruptcy claims brought against former footballers. It was also HMRC that brought a case against former Manchester United and England defender Brown in 2023. 'When you're making a lot of money, you need the right people,' he told the Ben Heath podcast last year. 'And I would say that's something I didn't have.' 'Tax is a massive thing,' accepts Anderson. 'Maybe not really understanding what they need to be paying. It could be agents' fees, private medical insurance the club might have on you, these different things that will get factored into your tax code. If your everyday accountant isn't aware of it and five years later you get hit with a bill with interest and fines, you've got to find money quickly. And if you can't, that's how it will happen.' There are players who fight addiction on the road towards financial ruin, such as former Premier League and international stars Keith Gillespie and Paul Merson, but the high rate of post-retirement divorce is another recognised factor. Dividing wealth up has the potential to bring on financial challenges at a point in time when earning power has been diluted. Windass accepts that the split from his then-wife, Helen, took a toll. 'I lost a lot of money through my divorce,' says Windass, who has since rebuilt his life and is confidently taking on a dementia diagnosis from last year. 'That's my doing, that's my fault. 'I couldn't speak for other players because I don't know the stories but there's a high number of players who get divorced and then end up bankrupt. If it hadn't been for that investment and my divorce, I wouldn't have been in that position.' No two case studies are the same but the stories carry parallels that create a pattern. Millions can be earned and squandered. Only when the income ceases do the regrets come. 'How it happens and how to prevent it is more about having the right people around you,' says Anderson. 'I harp on about the education. You don't need to know everything, you just need to know you have to do something.' (Top photo design: Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic)
BBC News
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Hull City legend Dean Windass tells graduates 'live your dream'
Former Premier League footballer Dean Windass has told new graduates to "go live your dream" after he received an honorary degree from the University of former Hull City, Bradford City, Aberdeen and Middlesbrough forward was awarded for his significant contribution to the field of a speech at the Connexin Live arena in Hull, Windass, who revealed earlier this year that he has stage two dementia, said: "I've been called a lot of things in my life but not a doctor. Wow."The 56-year-old is one of three people being recognised by the university, including broadcaster and self-described "eco-futurist" Alan Raw and motivational speaker Jaz Ampaw-Farr. Windass played for 12 clubs during a professional career spanning 19 years. Following the news of his dementia diagnosis, he revealed in May he had also been diagnosed with ADHD. Windass was part of the Bradford City side promoted to the Premier League in 1999 and wrote his name into Hull City folklore with a wonder goal in the Championship play-off final at Wembley in 2008, which saw Hull City promoted to the top flight for the first time in its then 104-year also had stints at Aberdeen, Oxford, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United during a career that saw him amass more than 700 appearances and more than 230 goals. During his acceptance speech for his Doctor of Letters (DLitt) award on Wednesday, Windass told students graduating at the university he had an "incredible journey" from being initially rejected by Hull City at the age of 18 to proving his critics "wrong"."Ironically, I got my break just before my 21st birthday with a manager called Terry Dolan at Hull City and he gave me that chance. "I worked on a building site while playing non-league football and then I didn't want to go back to that building site. That's what spurred me on."He told students and academics in the arena to "go live your dream" and said hard work, sacrifice and daily attendance were among the qualities for success as well as trying "your hardest" and respecting others."Yes it's been a journey, yes it's been tough but I would never change anything in my football career."All I tried to do in my football career was to prove people wrong. I've made mistakes of course, we all do but I own my mistakes." Thanking his family and friends, he gave a special mention to his fiancée Kerry Allanson, who Windass said had stood by him through his dementia diagnoses."She's been my rock for the last six years. I've let her down a couple of times but we're getting married next year.""I'll prove to my fiancée that I'll be a very good husband," he added. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Hull City 'legend' Dean Windass to receive honorary degree
Former Premier League footballer Dean Windass is to receive an honorary degree from the University of university described the former Hull City, Bradford City, Aberdeen and Middlesbrough forward as a "legend and community champion".Windass, who revealed earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with stage two dementia, said it was a "huge honour".He is one of three people being recognised by the university for "their extraordinary contributions to society, sport, culture and sustainability". Windass was part of the Bradford City side promoted to the Premier League in 1999 and wrote his name into Hull City folklore with the only goal in the Championship play-off final at Wembley in 2008, which saw Hull City promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their also had stints at Aberdeen, Oxford, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United during a career that saw him amass more than 700 appearances and score more than 230 he went public with his dementia diagnosis, he said he had been contacted by many former players worried they might have the condition."I'm trying to get as many footballers [as possible] to go for a scan," he university said Windass, who has also been diagnosed with ADHD, had shown courage speaking publicly about mental health and supporting campaigns around dementia in on the accolade, Windass said: "I'm an emotional person anyway, and I know my family and friends will be there to watch me pick up the award, so I'm sure there'll be a few tears." Jaz Ampaw-Farr, a motivational speaker, and Alan Raw, a broadcaster and self-described "eco-futurist", will also receive university's vice-chancellor, Prof Dave Petley, said all three were "being recognised not only for what they have achieved, but for how they inspire others through bold leadership, deep compassion and unwavering determination".Ampaw-Farr said: "Hull gave me a home when I didn't have a home. I came out of foster care and had nowhere to go in the holidays, but I had a community here. "So, it [the honorary degree] feels like your mum's proud of you."Raw said it was "incredibly humbling" and felt like "being seen for my values, rather than the outcomes".The graduation ceremonies will take place between 14-17 July. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Dean Windass: ‘I want to shed light on my experiences and help the public'
The framed photograph hangs just inside the front door. It shows Dean Windass, somehow larger than life even with his back turned to the camera, standing with arms aloft on the balcony of Hull city hall and inhaling the adulation of thousands. Two days earlier he had, at the age of 39, scored a winner for the ages at Wembley and sent his boyhood club to the Premier League. He could not have caught the ball any more sweetly after Fraizer Campbell had chipped it across; it was no hardship that, even then, he knew it would follow him for ever. 'It changed my life,' Windass says, sitting in his living room on a quiet May morning. 'I scored 234 goals and everyone only talks about that one.' To this day he swears a scorcher at Wycombe in 1992-93, 'volleyed in with my left foot from 950 million yards', was superior to his museum piece from 2008. But he is synonymous with the playoffs now; they are his thing, a sporting event he still anticipates like few others, and when we meet he correctly predicts Sheffield United will meet Sunderland in Saturday's Championship final. That is the uncomplicated side to Windass, who happily describes himself as 'the most boring man you've ever seen in your life' during weeknights watching football, soaps or documentaries. In the public eye he was always a showman: a bustling menace on the pitch and pantomime villain when playing to the galley of a goading opposition support. 'It spurred me on,' he says. 'I got 'You fat bastard' and loved it. The bigger the stage I played on, the better I performed. Some people can't handle it but I thrived on it.' Beneath the bravado there was plenty more swirling away: Windass has been candid about his post-career struggles, which may have been caused by a combination of unresolved childhood issues and the degradation of two decades' day-to-day structure. He made two suicide attempts and spent 26 days in rehab for alcohol dependency; he was made bankrupt through debts to HM Revenue and Customs incurred via a film investment scheme that stung numerous ex-pros. Windass never shrank from any of that and has tried to help others experiencing mental health difficulties. On top of these problems it hardly feels fair that last year Windass was diagnosed with stage two dementia, an early phase of the syndrome. John Stiles, the son of England's 1966 hero Nobby, is a friend from the after-dinner speaking circuit and asked him to take a diagnostic scan. Windass took some persuading but, after learning more about Stiles' work with Football Families for Justice, which is campaigning for families of former players affected by brain injuries to receive proper financial support, agreed to be examined. Nobby Stiles died with dementia in October 2020. 'I went into it with my eyes wide open,' Windass says. He had not sensed any problems at the time, bar what he deemed standard bouts of forgetfulness. 'I decided to get the scan because I thought it would be worth it even to help one family. And that it might be my family in five or 10 years' time. I was a guinea pig, I didn't feel ill and wasn't bad at the time.' Over a Zoom call that his fiancee, Kerry, also attended he was told the scan had found a shade on his brain. He says the consultant told him a career of heading footballs was likely to have contributed. At the time he was 55. 'They've said I could be like this for half a decade, a decade, or it could deteriorate,' he says. 'I'm not happy about it; I wish they'd said I was all clear and then we wouldn't be having this conversation now. But look, I could go out and get run over by a bus tomorrow.' His diagnosis was revealed in January when the former Manchester United defender David May, a friend of Windass and Stiles, was given the green light to announce it on television. Until then Windass had elected not to spread the news. His older son Josh, who plays for Sheffield Wednesday, found out while having coffee with his teammate Barry Bannan. It turned out Bannan's father had just heard May's announcement. Windass put on the face everyone else knew. 'I tried having a bit of fun with it as that's my character,' he says. 'The next day I walked in my local pub and everyone's going: 'My God, are you all right, are you OK?' I went: 'Yeah, I'm fine thank you, but I've forgotten my wallet!' That was the best way for me to deal with it.' The more serious element is that he knows trickier days will come. He goes about his daily business with few hitches but Kerry already manages much of his schedule and the load on her will eventually increase. She runs a successful beauty business in Hull but a partner can quickly come to feel lonely. 'Nobody asked if Kerry was all right,' he says. 'People come to her salon asking if I'm OK, but she's the one who has to look after me.' It is why he sits squarely behind Football Families for Justice's campaign for added support. Nobby Stiles' care costs ran to £125,000; an initial fund of £1m set up by the Professional Footballers' Association in 2023 was described by John last month as 'not fit for purpose'. There is a growing consensus much more will be required, and quickly. Windass agrees. 'Nobby's had to sell his World Cup medal to go in a home and should never have been in that position,' he says. While unwilling to directly criticise the PFA, listing the ways in which they have helped him through a range of difficulties, he hopes the level of assistance available can be greatly enhanced. This month, two days before this interview, Windass' former Hull colleague Andy Payton revealed his own dementia diagnosis at the age of 57. After his Zoom call, Windass had been urging those in his circle to take the scan. He estimates 10 to 15 have done so. 'We were playing a charity game, Burnley legends against Bradford legends,' he says. 'Andy came up to me and went: 'I've gone and had that scan.' I found out the other day; I've texted him. I tell all the ex-players I hang round with to go for it, because you never know the outcome. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion 'Good player, Andy, good finisher. He was quick, I set up a few for him. Andy wasn't really renowned for heading the ball on matchdays but he'd do it in training and that's what happened.' Windass looks back at half a lifetime of daily drills, head thrusting towards balls being flung across the training pitch, in which the notion of adverse consequences barely registered. 'When I got the diagnosis they asked me how many footballs I headed,' he says. 'It's not the fact of matchday, it was those crossing and finishing drills every day. Or for centre-halves, heading it as far as they could. After every session I'd do some finishing, head it in or volley it if they cross it in. I thought nothing of it. You couldn't think about dementia then, but now we can. So let's see if we can stop it at source now and reduce the damage.' A restriction on heading in training is, he believes, more important than imposing a blanket ban. In 2021 the Premier League introduced recommendations that players head the ball a maximum of 10 times per session, one session a week, but the level of adherence is unclear. 'I'm not saying stop heading it in games,' he says. 'If the ball comes across in front of 50,000 on a Saturday I'm not saying: 'I can't head this or I'll get dementia.' In a charity game, if the ball was stood up in the box I'd head it, it's instinct. But you can stop those drills in training.' The stories, memories and admissions flow during a lunchtime with Windass. Even more of them are contained in his new book, Beyond the final whistle, which deals unflinchingly with the problems that sent him to the edge. 'People always say you want to forget about your past and move forwards, but you go back to where it starts and it feels quite raw,' he says. 'I'm an emotional person and I still get down sometimes.' He works with his close friend Mark Crossley, the former Nottingham Forest keeper, and other retired players to raise money for a range of good causes through the charity Walking's Brilliant. The group have walked long distances, scaled the three peaks, and the idea is to help one another in the process. 'I didn't realise how many ex-players have struggled with mental health,' Windass says. 'It comes out when we're walking. I've played against all these lads and I'm thinking: 'Why are you on this walk?' 'If I spoke out about it in the changing room when I was playing, it'd be: 'What's wrong with you? Grow a pair of bollocks.' Nobody spoke about it in my day and it nearly cost me. So when I got through it, I thought I need to tell people to talk.' People stop Windass in the street to thank him for the videos he releases on social media, through which he has offered practical tips on how to get through a bad day. 'I want to shed light on my experiences and help the public,' he says. On walks through Hull he will buy food for the homeless or offer a lift to somebody waiting for a bus. Life has dealt Windass inconceivable highs and devastating lows; more of both may follow, but through the turbulence he has found a happy state of being. 'I'm very honoured to have had the career I did, and the friends I have who care about me,' he says. 'You've been in bad places and think nobody loves you or cares.' As he speaks, that picture of a jubilant crowd whose dreams he had just made true is visible in the hallway. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Dean Windass opens up on his biggest regrets, dementia diagnosis and Wembley heroics - after releasing new brutally honest autobiography
A smile as wide as the nearby Humber spreads across the face of Dean Windass as he presses play on the video. 'The hairs still stand up on the back of my neck,' says the 56-year-old, his eyes glued to the laptop screen in front of him. 'I've seen it back millions of times, but I never get bored of it. It gets better every time.' Windass is, of course, watching a clip of his iconic Wembley winner for Hull City in their 2008 Championship play-off final against Bristol City, an 18-yard volley which fired his boyhood club into the Premier League and him into Tigers folklore. Was it the best day of his life? 'Apart from my kids being born, yeah, without a shadow of a doubt,' replies Windass, sitting with Mail Sport in a hotel in Hull ahead of Saturday's play-off final between Sheffield United, another of his former clubs, and Sunderland. 'It was a special, special day – the Hull lad scoring the winning goal. In lockdown, I asked the BBC Radio Humberside commentator, David Burns, to send me his commentary of the goal and my missus Kerry set it up as my ringtone. I had to change it because I kept crying every time it went off!' Windass recalls everything about that Wembley weekend – from playing poker the night before the match, to the chairman pouring champagne over his breakfast cornflakes the morning after. The fear, however, is that one day he might not remember any of it having been diagnosed with stage two dementia. 'That scares me,' admits Windass. 'If somebody asked me about the goal at Wembley and I can't remember, then that is a worry. Then I'll know that it has got worse.' Windass only discovered his condition last year after being encouraged to go for a brain scan by John Stiles, the son of 1966 World Cup winner Nobby Stiles, who died having suffered from the condition. Windass had been 'forgetting things' and 'struggling to remember names', yet he was still stunned when he received his results over Zoom. 'They said, 'We've found a shade on your brain, which is very mild, but it could be very serious in a number of years to come',' he recalls. 'I tried to make a laugh and a joke about it, saying I was delighted that they found a brain because I didn't think I had one, but it did scare me.' Windass, though, kept his diagnosis private for months until David May, with his blessing, announced it on TV in January. The former Manchester United defender and Stiles are part of the Football Families for Justice campaign group, fighting for football authorities to provide more support for ex-players affected by the disease. 'Honestly, I wish I hadn't done the scan because then I wouldn't have known, and we wouldn't be talking about this now,' says Windass. 'I'd have just said I forget names and I am getting old. 'I don't want to be a burden or for anybody to feel sorry for me. I am healthy, physically. But now, I overthink things. 'I send my after-dinner speech dates to Kerry and my manager, so I don't forget them. They will ring me to remind me where I'm at. The other week I parked my car and I didn't know where I had parked it. But am I overthinking? I don't know. 'You worry about it because you think, 'Is it going to get worse?'. If I get a headache, I think, 'Is that because of this?'. 'My biggest worry is not knowing my children. I've just got a granddaughter, so I want to know for the next 20 years how she and my kids are getting on.' Windass does not doubt that heading caused his condition, which is a particular worry for him given his two sons are also both footballers. Josh, 31, is a forward for Sheffield Wednesday and emulated his dad by scoring a Wembley play-off winner in 2023, while 26-year-old Jordan is a defender at non-league Clitheroe. 'If you've got 1,000 footballers in this room, I'd say there'd be 900-odd who have probably got it,' says Windass. 'I say to footballers, 'If you are forgetting things, go and have a scan'. 'The ball now is lighter but it is quicker. It's not about games, it's about training - heading thousands and thousands of balls in drills. 'Of course you've got to head a football. If you take that away, it's not football. But hopefully they can minimise it in training.' Windass opens up about living with dementia in the closing chapter of his new autobiography, Deano: Beyond the Final Whistle, in which he also reveals he has recently been diagnosed with ADHD. His book is a brutally honest and, at times, harrowing read, detailing his two suicide attempts, his battles with depression, alcohol dependency and bankruptcy, and his 26-day spell in rehab. 'I am proud of the book, but I will never do another one,' admits the man who went from packing peas in a Birds Eye factory to playing in the Premier League for Bradford, Middlesbrough and Hull. 'I did it because of the mental health side of it. I thought if I can help somebody, then I've done my job. But it wasn't enjoyable. I would never want to experience that again. 'It was stressful because you've got to look back on all the things that you've done. It's not easy talking about the past. There are loads of things in the book that I am ashamed of. I look back and think how stupid I was.' Windass' biggest regret was when he crashed his car while drink-driving in October 2012, shortly after he was 'dropped like a stone' by his employer Sky Sports. He was found to be three times over the limit and was banned from driving for 28 months and given 250 hours' community service. His 'lowest ebb' came at the start of that year when he felt 'beyond repair' and twice tried to take his life. 'I just thought, 'I don't want to be here',' he explains. 'I was upsetting people and it just got to the point where I just went, 'If I am not here anymore, I can't upset anybody'. 'Selfish, yes, but when you are under the influence, you don't think rationally. But I am glad I got through it and I am sat here talking to you telling the tale.' Windass was sent spiralling by losing his dad John in 2011, having not spoken to him for the five months prior to his fatal heart attack. 'For 41 years of my life, he was my best mate,' says Windass. 'Then we had an argument, and I never spoke to him for five months and he died. 'The moral of the story is: don't argue with your parents because you'll probably regret it for the rest of your life. I've regretted it. He had a heart attack and I blamed myself because I thought he was stressed out. 'I wish I had gone and knocked on his door. When I was working for Sky Sports at Hull, I thought to go and see him but I didn't and that night he died. That still hurts.' While Windass has never fully got over that tragic episode, he insists he is now in a better place. We are in the hotel where he comes to train in the gym every day – a ritual he started following a chat with heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, who also struggled with depression. 'Tyson inspired me,' explains Windass, who has the phrase 'positive thinking' tattooed across his fingers. 'He said, 'You've got to keep training every day because that's your medicine'. I love training and running and keeping fit. 'I have ups and downs. You are never going to be cured. But the alcohol has stopped now in the sense of drinking every day. 'I still have a beer on the weekend. I socialise. I am not going to stop my life. When I am with my mates, I am a gobs***e. But I am quite quiet and boring when I am home. I've got a simple life.' As well as after-dinner speaking and media work, Windass spends much of his time now playing golf or watching rugby league. Appearing on I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is on his bucket list because 'people don't know Dean Windass, they only know Deano'. His biggest ambition, however, is to go into football clubs offering mental health advice to young players and telling them, 'It's OK to talk', the message which is on the white wristband he is wearing. 'In my day, if I went in the changing rooms and said I'm down and depressed, they'd laugh at me,' adds Windass. 'You weren't allowed to say that in those days. They'd have said, 'Grow a pair'. 'Now, I hope that a Josh Windass would go up to a Barry Bannan and say, 'I am feeling down today', then Barry would do something about it. 'I don't know if that happens and that's why I'd like to go in front of a group of players and tell them it's not a weakness. I'd love to be able to help.'
