Hundreds of ex-footballers are being recruited for a study into possible brain injuries caused by heading.
Around 300 former players aged 50 to 89 will have mental tests and answer questions on how often they used their head during their professional career.
Restrictions could be put on kids heading footballs if a link is proved in the study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary University of London.
Professor Damien McElvenny said : “It is important the long-term health consequences of playing professional football are evaluated as soon as possible.”
The Mirror has long highlighted the issue after former England star Jeff Astle died from the disease in 2002, aged 59.
World Cup 1966 heroes Nobby Styles, 77, Martin Peters, 75, and Ray Wilson, who died last year aged 84, all developed dementia.
The FA and the Professional Footballers’ Association are supporting the study, launched at the Occupational Health 2019 conference in Bristol. Participants will have played in one of the top four English divisions.
