horrible disease, my second cousin's husband died of MND. One minute he was fit as a flea, cycling across America coast to coast, then diagnosed with MND, in a wheelchair within about six months and died within the year.
John was a good player for us, will catch up with the programme later.
Missed this first time round. Awful news. Lost a good university friend to MND a year ago. Terrible to see him waste away - he had a related dementia diagnosis too.
Hope the garden provides some joy to the Pender family.
We all get old but it is still so sad to see someone you remember as being an athletic rock of a defender, such as John, now struggling so much. The transformation will enable him to get all the way around the garden, with a few stopping points on the way and that seems to be something that has brought some happiness to John and his wife. Wish them all the very best.
John Pender has just been on “ Garden Rescue “ with Charlie Dimmock. She was creating a wheelchair friendly garden for him and his wife.
That was John Pender? I saw the back end of the programme (they were showing the finished result) but wasn't taking much notice of who it was for - I will look again on BBC iplayer
This is from an article in The Athletic that was published a couple of years ago. I hadn't realised quite how successful he was but I suppose you don't get to play over 500 games without having something about you. So sad that his love of and commitment to the game has, in all probability contributed to his illness:
Promotions followed John throughout his career which began blossoming in Wolves’ academy. After breaking through to the first team at 18, he was part of the side which won promotion to the First Division in 1982-83. He was a lucky charm for Charlton (1985-86) and Bristol City (1989-90) before his move to Burnley and there was a final promotion as champions of the Third Division with Wigan in 1996-97.
They are cherished memories from a career that spanned nearly 20 years and over 600 appearances, but it has come with a cost. The family believes football has contributed to John’s condition. Nothing came back from genetic tests conducted so they think it has been caused by something physical.
“It is heading the ball,” says John. “It was my strength but I have probably got about 100 stitches in my head from different clashes. If I went totally bald you would just see a load of criss-crosses.
“I played for Burnley against Bournemouth and I went up for a header and got knocked out. The doctor checked me out and I went back on. There is no chance that would happen today.”
This is from an article in The Athletic that was published a couple of years ago. I hadn't realised quite how successful he was but I suppose you don't get to play over 500 games without having something about you. So sad that his love of and commitment to the game has, in all probability contributed to his illness:
Promotions followed John throughout his career which began blossoming in Wolves’ academy. After breaking through to the first team at 18, he was part of the side which won promotion to the First Division in 1982-83. He was a lucky charm for Charlton (1985-86) and Bristol City (1989-90) before his move to Burnley and there was a final promotion as champions of the Third Division with Wigan in 1996-97.
They are cherished memories from a career that spanned nearly 20 years and over 600 appearances, but it has come with a cost. The family believes football has contributed to John’s condition. Nothing came back from genetic tests conducted so they think it has been caused by something physical.
“It is heading the ball,” says John. “It was my strength but I have probably got about 100 stitches in my head from different clashes. If I went totally bald you would just see a load of criss-crosses.
“I played for Burnley against Bournemouth and I went up for a header and got knocked out. The doctor checked me out and I went back on. There is no chance that would happen today.”
Yet John would do it all over again.
This has come up a number of times about heading the ball and the long term impact. I think it was a contributing factor for Matt Tees?
Heading, is so much part of the game, it’s hard to know how and if this could be modified/changed?
John Pender has just been on “ Garden Rescue “ with Charlie Dimmock. She was creating a wheelchair friendly garden for him and his wife.
What series and episode number is this please ?
Sorry I don’t know that. However it was the one that was on yesterday. I never normally watch the programme but as I entered the room with the TVmy wife said the bloke involved was an ex footballer. A few seconds later they showed a photo of him from his time at Wolves and I recognized him straight away.
John Pender has just been on “ Garden Rescue “ with Charlie Dimmock. She was creating a wheelchair friendly garden for him and his wife.
What series and episode number is this please ?
Sorry I don’t know that. However it was the one that was on yesterday. I never normally watch the programme but as I entered the room with the TVmy wife said the bloke involved was an ex footballer. A few seconds later they showed a photo of him from his time at Wolves and I recognized him straight away.
The PFA and PL have launched a new brain health fund with £1m to support players with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. This is a start especially as the EFL and FA have dragged their feet over this and are not now contributing to the fund but appear to be continuing to find other avenues to support former players.
Comments
John was a good player for us, will catch up with the programme later.
I saw the back end of the programme (they were showing the finished result) but wasn't taking much notice of who it was for - I will look again on BBC iplayer
Thought he was a very good player for us, not sure why he wasn’t with us for very long, can anyone remember?
Hope John & Denise get a lot of pleasure from their new garden.
This is from an article in The Athletic that was published a couple of years ago. I hadn't realised quite how successful he was but I suppose you don't get to play over 500 games without having something about you. So sad that his love of and commitment to the game has, in all probability contributed to his illness:
Promotions followed John throughout his career which began blossoming in Wolves’ academy. After breaking through to the first team at 18, he was part of the side which won promotion to the First Division in 1982-83. He was a lucky charm for Charlton (1985-86) and Bristol City (1989-90) before his move to Burnley and there was a final promotion as champions of the Third Division with Wigan in 1996-97.
They are cherished memories from a career that spanned nearly 20 years and over 600 appearances, but it has come with a cost. The family believes football has contributed to John’s condition. Nothing came back from genetic tests conducted so they think it has been caused by something physical.
“It is heading the ball,” says John. “It was my strength but I have probably got about 100 stitches in my head from different clashes. If I went totally bald you would just see a load of criss-crosses.
“I played for Burnley against Bournemouth and I went up for a header and got knocked out. The doctor checked me out and I went back on. There is no chance that would happen today.”
Yet John would do it all over again.
He looks very different now!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66726868