FORMER Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear’s family want to get “justice for players” as his daughter described the “heart-breaking” decline of her father, who died in April at the age of 77.
The family are among of number of claimants taking legal action against football’s governing bodies as they say that they failed to protect players from brain injury allegedly suffered from heading the ball.
Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Kinnear was diagnosed with dementia in 2015.
Kinnear’s daughter Russ Doffman believes that “loads of headers with a very heavy leather ball” in training and games “caused damage to his brain over the years”.
She told BBC Sport the claimants wanted “justice for players, and to try to get some help for [ex-players] still around.
“If it helps others then we’re all for it, and if we have to go through court we will because it’s so important.”
Doffman recalled watching her father “fade away”.
“We noticed his moods were changing,” she said. “During my teenage years he was such great fun, very outgoing and positive, but then he started getting verbally aggressive. His whole personality changed and he went very quiet.
“He had it for eleven years. Watching him fade away was awful.
“My mum’s okay, she’s a tough cookie. We miss him. There’s now a massive hole in our lives, but we’re happy he’s now at peace because it was a long, horrible journey.”
Earlier this month, the Football Association introduced a new rule to phase out deliberate heading in grassroots youth football games in England. It applies to under-11 games and below in all leagues, including club and school games.
“I’ve got two sons and I used to go to their football training and they were told to put their whole weight into heading,” Doffman said. “This is what concerns us now going forwards.
“Both are still playing and I’ve said, ‘for goodness sake, don’t head the ball so much’. But that’s why it’s so key people are educated in what it does.”
The family had to apply for financial assistance from a support fund to help with the cost of Kinnear’s care. In September 2023, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), supported by the Premier League, announced the creation of a new fund. An initial £1million was made available “to provide discretionary financial support to former players and their families to help improve their quality of life”.
Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, said: “The welfare and care of players has always been a priority for the Premier League, and we feel it is important to offer our support to this newly established brain health fund.
“The fund builds on our long-standing partnership with the PFA and strengthens our collective support for former players facing health challenges.”
”We didn’t like to ask for anything, but it gets to a point where sometimes you need a bit of help. I wish I hadn’t bothered. I wish I hadn’t lowered myself,” Doffman said.
“When Dad became ill, it was like, ‘you’re done’. We received very little in support. A lot of the families feel they’ve been totally neglected in their time of need.
“His generation have really been let down and left behind. So many are struggling financially. Salaries were so low. It’s hard enough, the most stressful time, and then to worry when the invoice comes in from the care home. This is a multi-billion pound industry. It seems so cruel and unfair just to leave people to it.
“Even if they felt [heading and brain injuries] wasn’t linked, they have a duty of care.”
