The inquiry into concussion feels woefully small and underresourced given what we now know about the dangers
On 11 November 2002, the South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh recorded a verdict of “death by industrial disease” in the case of the former England striker Jeff Astle who had died, aged 59, after years suffering with dementia. At that point there was already 30-odd years’ worth of anecdotal evidence that heading the ball caused brain trauma. The Astle verdict meant there was now an official recognition of a link. The Guardian called it a “landmark verdict”. An official at the Professional Footballers’ Association reassured the players, and public, that the PFA and the FA had “begun joint research” into how heading a football affects the brain.
“We cannot do anything about what has gone on in the past,” the spokesman said, “but maybe we can do something about the future.”
Related: Women and girls face double the risk of concussion in sport, British MPs are told
A lot changed in those last two decades, but the question of whether sport should have gone further, faster, remains
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