Archive January 27, 2026

When a senior coroner declared on Monday that repeatedly heading footballs “likely” contributed to the brain disease which was a factor in the death of former Leeds United and Manchester United defender Gordon McQueen, the relationship between heading and neurodegenerative illnesses was thrown into the spotlight again.

The link between heading and brain injuries relates to an illness called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated head impacts, and which McQueen was found to have suffered from, alongside vascular dementia.

CTE can only be diagnosed after death, following analysis of the brain, which typically shows protein deposits and other types of damage which are caused by head injuries.

Research has shown that athletes such as footballers, rugby players and fighters have a significantly higher risk of developing CTE than the general population.

It depends how you look at it – McQueen is arguably the most high-profile former footballer whose death has been directly linked to CTE by a coroner. Such a clear verdict in a case as prominent as his means more people are aware of the link.

But this is far from the first time the link has been made official – Jeff Astle, who died following years of neurological symptoms, is considered the first footballer whose death was shown to have been impacted by heading footballs.

The confirmation that CTE played a role in Astle’s death, rather than Alzheimer’s as previously thought, came after analysis from Professor Willie Stewart, a pre-eminent neuropathologist who specialises in CTE cases in sportspeople and has advised sports bodies around concussion protocols.

“Former professional footballers are at much higher risk of degenerative brain diseases, dementias and related disorders,” says Prof Stewart, who is a consultant neuropathologist at the University of Glasgow.

“What we see is the risk is about three and a half times higher than it should be. There is a very unique change in the brain which only appears in athletes that we don’t see in other individuals.”

The reason coroners have thus far only gone as far as to say it is “likely” that heading footballs led to CTE, which then contributes to death, is because it is impossible to say with 100% certainty how and when the damage was done to the brain, as analysis is only possible post-mortem.

But experts generally agree that there is no other logical explanation in cases of professional sportspeople with long careers like McQueen, whose daughter Hayley told the inquest she had never known her father suffer any head injury other than concussions from playing football.

“CTE contributed to Gordon McQueen’s death significantly,” said Prof Stewart, adding that the only available causal evidence was exposure to repeated impacts – heading footballs.

There are rules across England, Scotland and Wales restricting heading in children’s games, while different restrictions are in place around training in the English and Scottish professional games.

In 2019 the ‘Field’ study, funded by the Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association, found that footballers were 3.5 times more likely to suffer from neurodegenerative disorders. It was the largest study to date looking at the links to heading footballs.

Since then, the FA has brought in a phased ban of heading in under-11s football and says it is investing in objective and robust research to get a better understanding of the issue. It has also issued guidelines to clubs on limiting high force headers in training, such as from balls which come at speed from free-kicks and corners.

The Scottish FA has gone further, banning heading the day before and after matches in the professional adult game.

In September 2023 the PFA set up a £1m brain health fund, with help from the Premier League, which former professional players and their families can make applications to for financial support. The union is being assisted by Dawn Astle, the daughter of Jeff, and applications are assessed by an independent panel.

But critics say the amount needs to be much higher, given the soaring costs of care homes.

The general consensus among experts is that the UK is taking the link between sport and brain disease more seriously than other countries.

A similar study to ‘Field’ conducted in Sweden reinforced the links, while Australia has begun looking at changes to training.

The International Football Association Board, which decides the laws of the game, has brought in concussion protocols, with designated concussion substitutions now seen in leagues far and wide, but changes to rules about heading the ball are not currently on the agenda.

“In the UK in particular, and also in some American sports, organisations have gone quite a long way to recognising and managing what the problems are,” Prof Stewart explains.

“There are limitations on heading at youth level and guidelines for the professional level. That’s a real acknowledgement of heading and head impacts being a potential risk for brain health.

“Going away from the UK to global sport – to Fifa and Uefa – we’re seeing less pick up of this as a problem, less of what might be required to meet to keep the sport safe.”

Families of footballers who have died with neurodegenerative conditions and charities have combined for many years to call for a reduction of heading in football.

They welcomed the guidelines when they were introduced in England, Wales and Scotland, but believe they are largely being ignored as things stand.

“The guidelines from the FA are out there but coaches don’t know them,” said, Dr Judith Gates, founder of Head Safe Football and widow of former Middlesbrough defender Bill Gates, who died after suffering from CTE.

“We have worked with 44 EFL clubs and only 1% knew about them, and that’s just the professional game.

“This begins in youth, so it’s young people whose brains we need to be caring for.”

One of the key points campaigners have made so far is that they are not seeking to remove heading from football, or fundamentally change the way the game is played, but to reduce the amount for heading in training in order to lessen the frequency of head impacts which have the potential to cause damage.

“I work as a broadcaster in sport, and I love it,” McQueen’s daughter Hayley, a Sky Sports presenter, said outside court. “People say, ‘Oh, you’ve ruined the game if you take heading out of it’. But we can still continue to have heading in football, but do it so much safer.”

Prof Stewart added: “Cutting exposure as much as possible at that elite level, reducing it as much as possible in training, is a very good starting point.”

Hayley and her sister Anna Forbes also insisted more changes should be made regarding care for former players suffering from neurodegenerative diseases and their families.

They believe that the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) should play a greater role.

“I emailed the PFA literally begging for help when my dad was at his lowest point, and we were looking for respite care,” Hayley McQueen explained.

“That email was left unanswered. After three attempts at chasing, they sent me on a wild goose chase for support where they offered something called an admiral nurse, which was a Zoom call with a nurse to tell me what government support we were able to access – which was none, by the way.

“It depleted my parents’ lifetime savings looking for private care for my dad, and we relied on charities for respite care. The PFA gave us nothing – no support whatsoever.”

The PFA said: “There is an ongoing need for a collective response, from football and beyond, to ensure former players affected by neurodegenerative disease, and their families, are properly recognised and supported.”

Hayley McQueen also called for football clubs to pay for annual brain scans for current players.

“I think there is an epidemic at the moment,” she told Times Radio. “I speak to a lot of the wives and daughters and sons of players, who are terrified, and they’re already showing signs and don’t know what on earth to do about it.

“Had they known the risks when they played, maybe they’d have made a major decision not to head the ball as much.

“If you were to scan a footballer at the start of every season, almost like having a full medical, why not? There’s enough money in football.”

No new measures have been announced, but after the McQueen verdict on Monday, various football authorities released statements insisting they are committed to ensuring player safety.

The FA said: “While any association between heading a football and later life brain health outcomes remains an area of ongoing scientific and medical research and debate, we continue to take a leading role in reviewing and improving the safety of our game together with all stakeholders and international governing bodies.”

Nottingham Forest are in talks to sign Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.

Matz Sels and John Victor have shared goalkeeping duties at the City Ground this season but Forest are exploring a move for Sa, who has emerged as Wolves head coach Rob Edwards’ first choice.

Whether Forest can successfully negotiate a deal for Sa, 33, is set to have an impact on the Portuguese’s Wolves colleague Sam Johnstone, who has attracted loan interest from Tottenham Hotspur.

Johnstone has made 12 Premier League starts for Wolves this season but has lost his place in goal to Sa.

Any move for Johnstone before Monday’s transfer deadline is likely to depend on whether Sa leaves for Forest.

Sa has been at Wolves since joining them from Olympiacos in 2021.

Another day, another hundred, another Joe Root bat raised towards his cheering team-mates.

Set the stage and more often than not the England legend will take his opportunity to further burnish a record that marks him out as one of the greats of the modern game.

This week he has trod the boards at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, hitting two half-centuries and an unbeaten 111 as England completed a rare one-day international series win.

In doing so, Root reaffirmed his position as one of the greatest non-Asian players in sub-continental conditions.

His 247 runs in the series saw him become England’s highest ODI run-scorer on the continent, surpassing Kevin Pietersen.

He now has 1,813 ODI runs in Asia at an average of 53.32, with three hundreds and 15 half-centuries.

Root’s position as one of the all-time greats is hardly news to the cricketing public.

Yet perhaps an underappreciated aspect of his game is his talent in handling spin and the sub-continental pitches that assist slower bowlers.

While England have often floundered on tours of Asia, Root has frequently flowered.

He now sits third on the list of non-Asian ODI run-scorers against spin in Asia with 1,118 at an average of 69.87, behind only Jacques Kallis (1,151) and Ricky Ponting (1,330).

“Joe’s playing of spin is absolutely fantastic because he’s able to manoeuvre the ball,” former England batter Dawid Malan told BBC Sport.

“It’s different challenges, batting in the sub-continent. Wickets vary from ground to ground.

“The last wicket they played on, it turned square, it was incredibly slow. And today, it didn’t turn as much and was a better wicket to play on.

“You have to adapt game by game. Joe’s found ways to do that, to take over and score at a run a ball consistently. He’s done that in all the conditions he’s played in.”

Unsurprisingly, it’s not just in Asia that Root has prospered against spin.

Of all the players to score more than 3,000 ODI runs against slow bowling alone, the 35-year-old currently averages 73.43 – only India great MS Dhoni has a better average.

Indeed, Root has averaged more than 80 against spin in eight calendar years of his ODI career, emerging with a figure of 202.5 in 2017, 101.25 in 2018 and 206 from his first three matches this year.

While many modern players will try to blaze their way through an ODI innings, it’s Root’s steady accumulation that marks him out.

Over the course of his 188 ODIs, Root has taken 3,566 runs in singles, frequently turning over the strike to ensure his side aren’t bogged down.

His ability to find gaps means his non-boundary strike-rate is 60.10, the best of any batter in the format’s history.

“Root’s dot-ball percentage is incredibly low, which is something I found I had to learn playing in the sub-continent,” added Malan.

“If you can rotate the strike really well, you’ll never feel like you’re under pressure.

“If you feel like you get two, three or four dot balls before you hit a boundary, you feel like you’re always having to take a high-risk option.

“Joe seems to find a lot of ways, whether it be with these reverse or deflections or playing off the back foot really well against spin, to score pretty quickly.”

Root also brings calm on his arrival to the crease, as he did on Tuesday when England slipped to 40-2 just after the powerplay.

He put on 126 to build a platform with Jacob Bethell, who hit a refined 65, before sharing an unbroken 191 partnership with Harry Brook.

In his 18 ODI innings since the start of 2024, Root has been dismissed just three times in the first 20 balls of his innings.

Just two weeks after a 4-1 Ashes humiliation, the majority of England’s squad who dragged themselves to Sri Lanka might not have savoured the prospect of three one-day internationals in challenging conditions.

Played when other nations have already started their preparation for the T20 World Cup, this trio of fixtures felt like another maddening quirk of a packed international schedule.

Yet England will now appreciate they had the chance to move on from their trip down under.

Root and Brook, who struck 136, enjoyed their time at the crease, and the pair now have the most ODI runs as a partnership for England since 2023 with 672 at an average of 44.80.

“Batting first in the sub-continent is incredibly tough because you never know what a good score is,” added Malan.

“You have to assess the wicket and that’s where partnerships become so important. If you can have a partnership of 100-plus, it enables you to go deeper into the innings and be able to attack the ball when it does get older.”

The Brook-Root partnership played out in that exact manner, with the England skipper accelerating dramatically as England scored 130 off the last 10 overs, having set a platform in the middle overs.

Root, who has not played a T20 international since 2019, can now head home having helped his side turn a corner after a brutal time in Australia.

The NFL’s latest hiring cycle is in full swing with seven head coaches having been appointed following the end of the regular season.

The Buffalo Bills are the latest team to sign a new head coach, with the franchise appointing Joe Brady.

It follows the Pittsburgh Steelers hiring Mike McCarthy and Jesse Minter returning to the Baltimore Ravens, after the Tennessee Titans brought in Robert Saleh.

John Harbaugh (New York Giants) and Kevin Stefanski (Atlanta Falcons) were the first two head coach appointments, while the Miami Dolphins hired Green Bay Packers defensive co-ordinator Jeff Hafley.

Minter has agreed to return to Baltimore in the top job, having previously spent four years as an assistant coach with the Ravens under Harbaugh.

The 42-year-old then worked in the college game before returning to the NFL as the Los Angeles Chargers defensive co-ordinator for the past two seasons.

“This is an organisation whose values, culture and tradition of excellence reflect everything I believe about the game of football and how it should be played,” said Minter.

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti added: “He clearly understands the values, high expectations and history of the Ravens, and he has a great vision for the future.”

Harbaugh had been in charge of the Ravens for 18 years so Minter will be just the fourth head coach in the team’s 31-year history.

The Tennessee Titans were the first team to fire their head coach this season when they sacked Brian Callahan in October, with Mike McCoy acting as interim as they ended the campaign with a 3-14 record.

Saleh has come in as the full-time replacement.

He was New York Jets head coach from 2021 until being sacked in 2024, returning to his former role as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive co-ordinator for the past season after a stint as an offensive consultant for the Packers.

“This was the most desirable location, the most desirable team,” said the 46-year-old.

The New York Giants were one of two teams to sack their head coach mid-season and they acted swiftly after Harbaugh was released by the Baltimore Ravens upon missing out on the play-offs.

Harbaugh was the most sought-after coach during this cycle and the 2013 Super Bowl champion interviewed with Atlanta and planned to meet with Tennessee.

But the Giants were the first team to welcome the 63-year-old to their training facility and they agreed a reported five-year deal, making Harbaugh one of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches.

Stefanski interviewed with the Giants, Baltimore, Tennessee, Las Vegas and Miami, having twice been named Coach of the Year during six seasons in charge of the Cleveland Browns, who fired him in early January.

Harbaugh was the second-longest serving coach in the NFL behind long-term divisional rival Mike Tomlin, who chose to end his 19-year spell with the Pittsburgh Steelers after they lost in the first round of the play-offs.

The Steelers have now appointed former Green Bay Packers and Dallas head coach McCarthy to replace Tomlin and become just their fourth head coach since 1969.

McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native, was with the Packers from 2006-2018 and led them to the Super Bowl championship in 2011 when they beat the Steelers.

The Steelers are scheduled to present their new coach at a news conference on Tuesday.

With McDermott leaving the Buffalo Bills after nine seasons, it means three of the NFL’s longest-serving head coaches have moved on in the same cycle.

The Bills have decided to promote Brady from being their offensive co-ordinator to their new head coach.

The Cleveland Browns are the third AFC North team hiring this cycle and have held second interviews with their defensive co-ordinator Jim Schwartz and Baltimore’s offensive co-ordinator Todd Monken.

Atlanta and Cleveland have interviewed Seattle’s British defensive co-ordinator Aden Durde, who has helped the Seahawks clinch the NFC’s top seed and go within one win of the Super Bowl having booked a spot in Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

Another UK-born coach could earn a top job as the Las Vegas Raiders seek a replacement for Pete Carroll.

The Miami Dolphins named Hafley as their new head coach following the sacking of Mike McDaniel.

The 46-year-old has spent two seasons as defensive co-ordinator for the Green Bay Packers and has also held roles as an assistant coach with the 49ers, Cleveland and Tampa Bay.

“I believe great things are ahead for the Miami Dolphins with Jeff Hafley leading the way,” said Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.

“He has tenacity and grit, while at the same time establishing trust with his players in order to get the most out of them.”

Kansas City Chiefs offensive co-ordinator Matt Nagy is among the candidates thought to have been interviewed by the Arizona Cardinals as they look for Jonathan Gannon’s successor.

Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar crashed his car in wet conditions on the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Barcelona.

The 21-year-old Frenchman, promoted to the senior Red Bull team for 2026 after just one season in F1, lost control at the fast final corner and hit the barriers.

The test is being held in private with no access for independent media, and Red Bull have not responded to requests for comment on the incident.

But eyewitnesses at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya say Hadjar was on his first lap on a set of intermediate tyres having just switched from full wet tyres.

The track was still damp and the weather was drizzly when he went off, spinning and hitting the barrier backwards.

Until then, Red Bull had continued their encouraging progress of the first day, and Max Verstappen had had his first run in the car in the morning session.

The four-time champion had an off at Turn Five on his first lap out of the pits but was able to rejoin.

World champions McLaren, who last week said they would first run their new car on either Tuesday or Wednesday, were not ready to run until late in the morning session and decided because of the weather to wait to run until Wednesday. They will now take part in each of the final three days of the test.

For Ferrari, Charles Leclerc drove in the morning and Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon, doing a total of 123 laps – just short of two grand prix distances – between them.

Leclerc said: “It’s not been the best conditions because it was a bit rainy, but we did our programme because we are not focusing on performance.”

F1 has introduced revised rules for chassis, engines, tyres and fuel this season that means the cars are completely new, and a much bigger role for the hybrid part of the engine will make energy management a major factor in F1 this season.

But Leclerc said it was “very early” to comment on the car’s behaviour.

“We haven’t pushed any bit of the car just yet, it was all about doing a proper system check on track,” he said. “We will know a bit more the more we do mileage. The first feeling is it is going to be a bit more of a challenge for us drivers to manage those things and then let’s see if it’s going to make things more exciting.

“For now, we have gone through the very first preliminary checks of the car, everything went properly and we will go through our check list of the first systems to then eventually what matters most, which is performance. But this will come probably a bit later in these three days and then trying to understand first how everything behaves.”

Ferrari had a poor season in 2025, with both Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton failing to win a grand prix, and have hopes the new rules will enable them to be more competitive.

Leclerc said: “I am very excited to see what the others have in store and when we start pushing a bit more to see where we are compared to the others.