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Chambers: PFA Should Spend More Cash on Research into Heading Dangers - Ipswich Town News

Blues skipper Luke Chambers is calling on the PFA to spend more money researching the dangers of heading the ball.

Former England internationals Jeff Astle and Nobby Stiles are among a number of ex-players to have developed dementia having retired with evidence increasingly pointing to a link between football, specifically heading, and brain disease.

"I saw the other day that the PFA chief executive [Gordon Taylor] gets more than £2 million a year,” Chambers, 32, told the club site.

"I’m not sure what for. I don’t think we get much from the PFA to be honest. They send someone down at the start of the season and tell us what we can do and what we can’t do and that’s it.

"""So, we spend £2 million on a chief executive but what, £100,000 or so on research into head injuries in football and what heading can do to a player over their career?

"There is a lot of research that has gone on in the United States for the NFL and concussion to players. I’d like to see a lot more done in our game. "

"As the world develops, more information becomes available. I didn’t worry about the ramifications of continually heading a football 10 years ago because it was never mentioned.

"Now there are more stories out there, more information so you start to think about it more. I’d certainly like to see more of the PFA funding spent on that research because I’ve been heading a ball since I was eight years old.”

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