Ex-England captain David Watson fights to have dementia recognised as industrial injury

Ex-England football captain David Watson, 78, is seeking to have his dementia recognised as an industrial injury arising from repeated head injuries sustained during his playing days, so he can claim benefits. Doctors say he is living with probable Alzheimer's and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Watson earned 65 England caps across a 20-year career, including three as captain, and also lined up for Sunderland, Manchester City and Stoke City. He and his wife Penny Watson, 75, who has an MBE for work around footballers with dementia, say his condition stems from countless collisions and headers in training and matches. Under the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, payments range from £45 to £225 a week for workers disabled by accidents at work. The Department for Work and Pensions rejected the claim. Lawyers from Leigh Day later persuaded a first-tier tribunal that 10 documented head injuries could properly be described as accidents in the course of his employment. But the tribunal dismissed the appeal, finding it could not be satisfied that the ten incidents directly caused his loss of faculties.

David's appeal is set for a hearing at the Upper Tribunal next month, with support from the Professional Footballers' Association. "David has always been proud of what he achieved in football, but the game has left him with a devastating illness," Penny Watson said. "What matters now is that his injuries are recognised for what they were — real accidents that caused lasting damage. We want to make sure his case is treated fairly, and that other families in the same position see that their experiences are being taken seriously too." The case centers on whether neurological conditions suffered during a football career can be attributed to injuries incurred at work and therefore qualify for industrial injury benefits.

David is represented by Ryan Bradshaw, a human rights solicitor at Leigh Day, who said the tribunal accepted that David suffered multiple head injuries while playing professional football but treated them as an ongoing process rather than discrete accidents. "The law makes clear that repeated accidents can amount to an industrial injury; David was disabled by the job he loved and ought to benefit from all available assistance. We hope the Upper Tribunal will find in our favour so David's case can be properly reconsidered," he said. A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson declined to comment on the specific case. "The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council is reviewing the connection between neurodegenerative diseases and professional sports, and we will consider any recommendations they make," the spokesperson said.

The outcome of the Upper Tribunal appeal could set a precedent for other families pursuing recognition of work-related brain injuries and related benefits. The case comes as the government awaits guidance from the council on broader links between sports-related head trauma and neurodegenerative disease, and as discussions continue about how such conditions should be accounted for under UK benefits rules.