Sad News About John McNamee - Newcastle Evening Chronicle

[Newcastlehibby]

John McNamee's family one of 'countless' desperate for support after harrowing decision - John Gibson - Chronicle Live


(https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/john-mcnamees-family-one-countless-28859009)

[HIBERNIAN-0762]

Was my first hero, loved the big man, never took any mess, proper centre half 💚👍

[gbhibby]

Sorry to hear that. What a player. Dementia is a horrible disease and needs to be treated as an illness by the NHS and care funded by the NHS If big John had been the centre half for the Tornadoes who knows what we would have won.

[JimBHibees]

Personally think that given the ludicrous money that is now in the game and at that club they should definitely be looking after former stalwarts of the club. The family have had to sell their house to pay for care costs in significant part by illness triggered by heading the ball.

[gbhibby]

Personally think that given the ludicrous money that is now in the game and at that club they should definitely be looking after former stalwarts of the club. The family have had to sell their house to pay for care costs in significant part by illness triggered by heading the ball.
Agree clubs should be made to pay money into a fund for this nobody should have to sell their house to fund care for dementia not only ex footballers but the wider population as well
Governments have chosen to ignore this for years and politicians should be ashamed of themselves.

[Victor]

Such a shame. Remember when he was transferred to Newcastle. First time I was aware such a thing could happen!

[ancient hibee]

What are Newcastle thinking about letting this happen?

[Fanforlife]

My favourite ever Hibs Centre Half,definitely took no prisoners, i was only a boy when he played for us but jeeeez he made a lasting impression.

[Forza Fred]

Always loved Big John.

[ozhibs]

Sad news indeed, loved big John Mcnamee. The various FA should be putting aside some money to help fund these guys.
GGTTH 🇳🇬

[JimBHibees]

What are Newcastle thinking about letting this happen?

Absolutely

[Alfred E Newman]

Stanton, McNamee, Baxter, a great half back line.
I met a guy from Newcastle while on holiday a few years ago and he reckoned big John was the best centre half he had ever seen. If you wanted a big no nonsense defender he was your man. I’m pretty sure he was Jock Steins first signing for us. Similar to now, we had loads of good footballers back then but were weak defensively and Stein saw the opportunity to bring in McNamee from Celtic.

[One Day]

Very sad. Big Bad John, one of my first Hibs heroes coming up for corners

[brog]

A tragedy, hardest man King Pat ever knew. I remember us singing a song for Big John after a win in Aberdeen when John was suspended, shock! To the tune of My Bonny.
Pele lies over the ocean, Eusebio lies over the sea,
But our hero is playing for Hibees, his name is Big John McNamee.
Bring back, bring back, bring back Big John McNamee etc.
So many stories, great guy.

[Norrieg]

Very sad news indeed. Was one of my heroes alongside Stanton and Baxter. A great centre half who took no prisoners on the park. Sympathy to his family and I hope somebody does something about this, not just for 'Big Bad John', but for everyone in this situation.

[A Hi-Bee]

Very sad and one of my all time favourite Hibs players, also a great human being by all accounts in the town that he called home in Cumbria.
What are Newcastle thinking about, with former players suffering like this, with all the Arab money they now have, it would be a drop in the ocean for them to fund and set up some real support for former players struck down with this awful illness.

[gbhibby]

Very sad and one of my all time favourite Hibs players, also a great human being by all accounts in the town that he called home in Cumbria.
What are Newcastle thinking about, with former players suffering like this, with all the Arab money they now have, it would be a drop in the ocean for them to fund and set up some real support for former players struck down with this awful illness.
Do any team in the EPL have a fund?

[Billy Whizz]

Do any team in the EPL have a fund?

You’d have thought the PFA would have something in place

[He's here!]

Becoming increasingly clear that heading the ball will need to be phased out of the adult game as well as kids, while rugby will need its format amended.

[JimBHibees]

Very sad and one of my all time favourite Hibs players, also a great human being by all accounts in the town that he called home in Cumbria.
What are Newcastle thinking about, with former players suffering like this, with all the Arab money they now have, it would be a drop in the ocean for them to fund and set up some real support for former players struck down with this awful illness.

Completely agree shameful really

[gbhibby]

You’d have thought the PFA would have something in place

Did they not announce late last year that they were looking into setting up a fund. Can't remember seeing anything from Scotland.

[The Harp]

So sorry to hear about the plight of Big John and the effect it must be having on his family. Watched him helping us win the Summer Cup at Pittodrie in '64. One of my favourite Hibees of all time. Hope some financial assistance comes his way quickly.

[Hibiza]

Sad news . Love to all concerned.

[Alfred E Newman]

Becoming increasingly clear that heading the ball will need to be phased out of the adult game as well as kids, while rugby will need its format amended.

The game will be finished if that is ever the case. While there is obviously a case to be made that heading a football may increase your chances of developing dementia in later life, thousands of men and women in their 70s and 80s that have never headed a football in their life, are diagnosed every year.

[He's here!]

The game will be finished if that is ever the case. While there is obviously a case to be made that heading a football may increase your chances of developing dementia in later life, thousands of men and women in their 70s and 80s that have never headed a football in their life, are diagnosed every year.

If a direct correlation between heading a football regularly and dementia has been established should we just carry on regardless with the rules as they are? It's a medical risk that can be reduced, so is that not more important than a game? It's called football, so it might not be a bad thing to focus on keeping the ball on the deck more.

[DaveF]

If a direct correlation between heading a football regularly and dementia has been established should we just carry on regardless with the rules as they are? It's a medical risk that can be reduced, so is that not more important than a game? It's called football, so it might not be a bad thing to focus on keeping the ball on the deck more.

The ball is on the deck far more nowadays than it ever has been. The game becomes meaningless if you took out heading.

What next, boxing without punching? Rugby without collisions?

[He's here!]

The ball is on the deck far more nowadays than it ever has been. The game becomes meaningless if you took out heading.

What next, boxing without punching? Rugby without collisions?

The ball wouldn't have to stay on the deck. You could still play long balls. It's the way things are going in kids football so they'll simply adapt to heading not being part of the game.

It's arguable whether boxing should still exist as a sport, while rugby certainly needs to amend its thinking, particularly in the light of how bulked up players have become. It's already a sport a lot of parents are steering their kids away from in favour of sports like hockey.

Just seems obvious that if there's medical evidence that doing a certain activity is potentially harmful to your long-term health you take steps to address it.

[Alfred E Newman]

The ball wouldn't have to stay on the deck. You could still play long balls. It's the way things are going in kids football so they'll simply adapt to heading not being part of the game.

It's arguable whether boxing should still exist as a sport, while rugby certainly needs to amend its thinking, particularly in the light of how bulked up players have become. It's already a sport a lot of parents are steering their kids away from in favour of sports like hockey.

Just seems obvious that if there's medical evidence that doing a certain activity is potentially harmful to your long-term health you take steps to address it.
Surely no one is forced to compete in contact sports. If they are made aware of the risks and are happy to accept them what is the harm in that. There are lots of other things that can get you before you reach your later years .
It's been well documented that smoking increases the chances of developing cancer in later life yet people still chose to smoke.

[gbhibby]

Surely no one is forced to compete in contact sports. If they are made aware of the risks and are happy to accept them what is the harm in that. There are lots of other things that can get you before you reach your later years .
It's been well documented that smoking increases the chances of developing cancer in later life yet people still chose to smoke.
Clubs should be made to set aside money for players pensions but also have a contingency fund set up for players care in the case of dementia. This could be a insurance policy taken out by the club to cover this. Not all players will suffer dementia in the future related to football and some dementia will just be the luck of the draw the hand you are dealt.There is a lot of rubbish written in the press regarding dementia.

[He's here!]

Clubs should be made to set aside money for players pensions but also have a contingency fund set up for players care in the case of dementia. This could be a insurance policy taken out by the club to cover this. Not all players will suffer dementia in the future related to football and some dementia will just be the luck of the draw the hand you are dealt.There is a lot of rubbish written in the press regarding dementia.

Footballers are 3.5 times more likely to contract dementia, alzheimers or motor neurone than members of the general public so it's about more than 'luck of the draw'. Heading is already banned in U12 football and I'm pretty sure the SFA have banned heading in training the day before and the day after matches. Just because we like the game the way it is surely doesn't mean that we just adopt a 'them's the breaks' approach to a serious medical issue which could be effectively addressed by a change to the rules? If kids are growing up not heading the ball then the transition to a similar approach in the adult game would be pretty seamless.

[superfurryhibby]

Footballers are 3.5 times more likely to contract dementia, alzheimers or motor neurone than members of the general public so it's about more than 'luck of the draw'. Heading is already banned in U12 football and I'm pretty sure the SFA have banned heading in training the day before and the day after matches. Just because we like the game the way it is surely doesn't mean that we just adopt a 'them's the breaks' approach to a serious medical issue which could be effectively addressed by a change to the rules? If kids are growing up not heading the ball then the transition to a similar approach in the adult game would be pretty seamless.

Where would you draw the line?

Driving increases your chances of dying in a motor accident.

Smoking makes it more likely you will develop lung cancer/copd and heart disease.

Obesity is rife and places a huge strain on our NHS resources.

Football isn't a mandatory part of life, it's a sport with risk attached. No one is made to play, they choose to.

[He's here!]

Where would you draw the line?

Driving increases your chances of dying in a motor accident.

Smoking makes it more likely you will develop lung cancer/copd and heart disease.

Obesity is rife and places a huge strain on our NHS resources.

Football isn't a mandatory part of life, it's a sport with risk attached. No one is made to play, they choose to.


But playing football, or taking part in sport/physical activity is not comparable to taking up a lung-cancer inducing habit or living off fast food and drinking too much. It's one of the best things you can do to reduce a whole range of health conditions. With the knowledge we now have, I can't see what's wrong with any sport's governing body making every effort to reduce head injury risk, be that the introduction of protective headgear or, in football's case, phasing heading out of the game. Developing a devastating condition like dementia or alzheimer's as a result of taking part in sport is very different to picking up a physical injury you can make a full recovery from. Those sort of injuries should be the only risks attached to sport, not the loss of cognitive functioning.