THE safety of heading a football is the game’s elephant in the room. Anyone who has ever headed a football – even when just a child – knows that it can hurt, particularly from longer, higher kicks, and therefore it must potentially be doing some damage.

Yet it isn’t really spoken about, and it certainly isn’t analysed enough.

There was a small scale Swedish research earlier this year that suggested footballers were one-and-a-half times more likely to die with dementia than the rest of the population, although goalkeepers (who rarely head a ball) were not affected. This result is similar to a Scottish survey that found footballers were three times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia.

This is not analysis intended to stop the game. It is analysis intended to make it safer. The women’s World Cup has been a brilliant encouragement for young women to take up the game, so football has a duty to ensure it is as safe as possible for its newcomers and everyone else who plays.

To that end there are some very sensible moves already taking place, such as introducing below head height rules in children’s matches to prevent them from heading. Even in the men’s professional game, there is guidance that there should only be 10 “higher force” headers per training session.

A new charity, Head Safe Football, has been launched by members of the families of Boro defender Bill Gates and Manchester United defender Gordon McQueen. They played in a different age of heavy balls, but their roles at the heart of defences meant that from a young age they would have been exhorted to head everything clear.

It would be a very fitting tribute to these brave and much admired players if this charity were to play a role in making the game as safe as it can be for those who play after them.

READ MORE: SPENNYMOOR TO HOST FIRST MATCH WITHOUT HEADERS

FOOTBALL WITHOUT HEADERS COULD BE MORE SKILFUL