Unforgettable Moments

Making football’s most memorable moments comes at a price. Forgetting them.

Imagine being part of one of the most memorable moments in your country’s history. And not being able to remember it. Imagine it was your job to create memories for millions of people. And forgetting them yourself. That’s the price paid for neurodegeneration.

For professional footballers, the risk of developing dementia is five times higher than everyone else, with research linking repeated heading of the ball with the onset of this cruel disease.

But, despite scientific proof, many people still don’t see the long-term effect heading a football can have. That’s why organisations like Head for Change and Sporting Memories Network are committed to tackling the issue.

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Taking images of the most famous moments in football history, we subjected them to the same impact a footballer’s head receives during the average playing career. Footballs struck the images the same number of times a footballer heads a ball during their career, at the same force. With devastating results. The faded images symbolise how the brain becomes damaged over time, demonstrating that repeatedly heading a football can destroy even the strongest of memories.

0MPH

The average speed a player heads the ball at.

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The average times a professional player heads a ball in their career.

There is a myth that older footballs are heavier than modern footballs. They are, in fact, the same weight. While modern balls don't soak up water as much as older ones, they travel at greater speeds, so the risk of developing dementia is still high.