The game has left him with a devastating illness - SAFC legend Dave Watson's family continue legal fight
“David has always been proud of what he achieved in football, but the reality is that the game has left him with a devastating illness”
The words of Penny Watson, wife of Sunderland AFC’s 1973 FA Cup winning legend Dave Watson who was speaking as the family announced they will this week continue their fight to ensure the former England captain’s neurological condition is recognised as being the result of head injuries sustained during his playing career.
Centre half Dave, who won 65 England caps and starred for Sunderland and Manchester City in the 1970s, has been diagnosed with probable Alzheimer’s and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive brain disorder linked to repeated head injuries.
He and his family are seeking industrial injury benefits because they argue injuries he suffered during his career are linked to his current condition.
The family first took the case to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which did not award industrial injury benefits, so they turned to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT).
However, the FTT dismissed the appeal to overturn the DWP decision after it could not be satisfied that the documented incidents contributed to his loss of faculty.
The FTT concluded instead that the process of playing football routinely for many years, and the numerous undocumented injuries Dave would have therefore sustained, meant that he would have had the same neurological decline had none of the highlighted accidents occurred.
Dave’s family and their legal team at Leigh Day have now appealed the FTT decision to the Upper Tribunal, which will hear the case on Wednesday October 1.
The Upper Tribunal will be asked to consider whether the FTT made legal errors in reaching its decision.
Dave’s legal team will argue that the FTT misunderstood the law by wrongly treating repeated head injuries as a process rather than a series of accidents.
They feel the FTT failed to provide proper reasons for its conclusions and drew “inadequate and flawed inferences from limited evidence about family history”.
If the Upper Tribunal agrees errors were made, the case would return to the FTT.
Dave’s case follows on from similar stories of a disproportionate number of former players developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
A study commissioned by the Football Association (FA) and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) found ex-players to be 3.46 times more likely to have neurodegenerative diseases than non-players.
Penny Watson said: “David has always been proud of what he achieved in football, but the reality is that the game has left him with a devastating illness.
“What matters now is that his injuries are recognised for what they were – real accidents that caused lasting damage.
“We want to make sure his case is treated fairly, and that other families in the same position see that their experiences are being taken seriously too.”
The Professional Footballers’ Association is supporting the Watson family in their legal challenge.
PFA director of brain health Dr Adam White said: “David and Penny have shown remarkable strength in speaking out about the challenges they face, and real resilience in continuing to pursue this through the legal process.
“Their experience underlines why it is so important that there is formal recognition of the long-term consequences of head injuries.”