I felt a great deal of sadness earlier this week when Norwich City legend John Deehan's dementia diagnosis was made public.

John was an excellent footballer for Norwich and had a lasting impact on my career as a coach to Mike Walker before becoming manager of the club himself. As a fellow centre forward, he taught me a lot about the game at a young age.

He is a gentle man with a wicked sense of humour. The players loved him. The fans still love him.

Alongside Mike, he was a key part of arguably the best Norwich team ever. John was on the bench as assistant manager for that historic night in Munich. He was the brains behind the Norwich City team that nearly won the Premier League title.

He is a great servant to the football club. Anyone who knows John or has ever been in his company will tell you what a lovely man he is.

John is a football man. He has played, worked in and dedicated his life to the game he loves. He is a Norwich City hall of famer, I remember watching him play for the club as a kid. Norwich fans will remember him as a really excellent finisher.

But, six years ago, aged just 58 he was diagnosed with dementia. Another former footballer to be diagnosed with the condition at such a young age.

Sadly, it is a disease that I know far too well. As do the families of footballers up and down the country.

The stark facts that Willie Stewart's 2019 study into this issue uncovered around this issue are this: if you play football you are five times more likely to die from Alzheimer's, three and a half times more likely to die from dementia, four times more likely to die from motor neurone disease and two times more like to die from Parkinson's disease compared to the general population.

And yet, we are still trying to get the message about the dangers of heading out there and football isn't doing anywhere near enough.

This isn't going to stop. There are going to be more players who are coming out having been diagnosed with a brain injury.

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