Mike Bailey's family plead: What more evidence is needed?

Victoria Tyler told of the heartbreak as her father was diagnosed with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s three years ago.

Speaking in a bid to have bodies like the Professional Footballers’ Association take greater action on the issue, she told the Express & Star: “We’ve spoken to consultants, they’ve all said it’s not just the actual matches, it’s all the training – that constant heading.

“CT scans showed there was medial temporary lobe atrophy, meaning it was Alzheimer’s.

“I don’t know how much more evidence is needed to make everybody stop and listen and take action.”

When Bailey was diagnosed in 2017, the family had already noticed for some time that former Wolves hero had been struggling.

“When he had the test it was moderate to severe Alzheimer’s,” she recalled. “That was just heartbreaking to sit in as your dad is tested on his memory.

“My dad was the man of the house, to see him so fragile and so forgetful was one of the most awful days of our lives.

“I had noticed from his early 70s that he just started to get more withdrawn socially, getting very quiet at the table.

“There were lots of little signs that he was becoming more of a shell of himself and the one thing with dementia and Alzheimer’s is physically they look normal but when people speak to them , they think it’s a bit odd, they’re not behaving normally.

“It’s so sad because you can’t a person’s their mental health when you’re talking to them.

“There’s no cure so we treasure each day but we know that it is just going to get worse.We’re just muddling through between myself, my brother and my mum, so it’s really hard.”

She revealed Bailey struggles to recognise lifelong friends but believes she sees flashes of ‘the old dad’ when showing him photos of his Wolves career or during a game of golf.

“The thing is because he just says the odd word now, you can’t have a full conversation, it’s very difficult,” said Mrs Tyler.

“But we were going through some of his photos the other day and he was looking at them. I think he knows but you can’t really have a chat with him about it, but he doesn’t recognise really good friends now so that’s quite heartbreaking. People who have known him all his life but he is just not sure who they are.”

The family were frequent visitors to Molineux but have had to stop visiting from their Surrey home in recent years as it was becoming too difficult.

“Dad had always gone up to Wolves to see matches, for any event.

“But the problem is, people would obviously come up to Dad, and people wouldn’t know that he has got Alzheimer’s and it was so difficult for him socially.

“Really, we withdrew as a family to protect my dad. People would want to talk to him, which he’d always loved and always loved talking to people about football but when you’ve got Alzheimer’s, it was just too hard when you have people coming up to you.”

The family paid tribute to the support received from the Wolves Former Players’ Association and vice-chairman John Richards, as well as the family of the late Albion great Jeff Astle, who died as a result of heading footballs throughout his career. “I want to personally thank Dawn Astle for all her efforts in highlighting all the problems,” added Mrs Tyler. “It has been a hard slog for her particularly and I’m hoping this momentum now, and with my dad now coming forward, will encourage others to do the same and we’ll get some support for former players.

“I feel for anyone who is going through having to look after a family member with dementia or Alzheimer’s, it’s heartbreaking and horrendous. We need a care package for the former players, and help for their carers, they really need respite.”