Former Premier League stars are among the 25 players who are suing the FA for negligence on the grounds that they’ve failed to protect players from brain injuries… with the first High Court hearing set for the new year

Three former Premier League stars are among 25 ex-players suing the FA for damages on the grounds they failed to protect them from suffering brain injuries. 

Mail Sport revealed last year that the group, which also includes two former EFL players who are suffering from early-onset dementia in their 40s, had issued a letter of claim and the first High Court hearing is due to take place next month.

The group of ex-players are mainly in their 60s and 70s as dementia generally presents later in footballers than rugby players, but some are considerably younger. It is understood that the three ex-Premier League players are in their early 50s, while two others who played in the EFL are a decade younger having first shown symptoms of brain injuries in their 30s.

While the claimants have chosen to maintain their anonymity at present it may be waived when the initial case management hearing takes place at the High Court on 16 January. In addition to the FA, the FA of Wales and football’s law-making body IFAB are also being sued.

All of the players claiming compensation are suffering from irreversible neurological impairments such as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and post-concussion syndrome. 

Nobby Stiles suffered from dementia for a number of years before his death in 2020

The potential vulnerability of younger players to brain injury was highlighted in Major League Soccer last year when former Sporting Kansas City Scott Vermillion was diagnosed with CTE following his death at the age of 44.

The mass football claim follows previous legal actions launched by former players from rugby union and rugby league, which has attracted 310 and 160 claimants respectively. 

A High Court hearing on behalf of the union cohort last week led to the revelation that England’s 2003 World Cup winners Phil Vickery and Mark Regan, and ex-Wales star Gavin Henson, were among 226 new claimants taking the overall number above 300.

England World Cup winner Phil Vickery is among the rugby players to have launched legal action against governing bodies