IN all the coverage of the death of Billy McNeill, there were many mentions of the fact that he died after having dementia for a number of years. I have no idea if the dementia suffered by Celtic’s greatest captain was caused by heading the ball, but I suspect that it was, as does his courageous family, which went public about Billy’s condition in 2017.

Billy McNeill was the finest header of a ball that I ever saw play in the flesh, whether scoring legendary goals or turning defence into attack with a long headed clearance. Big Billy put his head to leather – often soaked and sodden – so many times with utter determination and maybe, sadly, that vigour led many years later to his deterioration.

I remember all the great stuff about Billy. Every word you have read about his leadership qualities, his concern for others, his sheer class, is true. I was lucky enough to meet him at his peak shortly after Celtic won the European Cup. It was one of the few times in my life that I was dumbstruck. My grandfather insisted on me shaking Cesar’s hand – I was only eight at the time, but remember it as if it was yesterday and I’m now 60. He just had this charisma. He smiled and made you feel you were the important one. For a brief few months I told everybody that Billy McNeill was now my favourite player – and then Jimmy Johnstone ran riot against Red Star Belgrade in that famous 5-1 victory in November 1968 and Jinky was restored. At the age of nine, I had seen the greatest single performance by any player in a match that I would ever witness and Jinky was and is still my favourite of all time, yet I quickly learned to say that Billy was my favourite Celtic CAPTAIN.

I told Billy that story many years later and he laughed and said “he was all our favourites”.

Last time I met Billy it was clear that he was unwell. I knew the signs of dementia, and that there was little point in engaging him in a conversation. So I just decided to shake his hand again, as I had done back in 1967. Almost 50 years on

I was able to say something: “Thanks.” And he smiled.

Today Celtic FC will celebrate Billy McNeill, and I know the celebrations will be heartfelt and poignant. Afterwards, after the funeral next Friday, there must be a serious discussion, a defining debate, about the links between dementia and football, especially in those players who were in their prime from the 1940s to the 1970s, a generation blighted by degenerative brain disease.

For example, I recall Billy McPhail who lost a case for industrial injuries compensation over his Alzheimer’s in 1998, and another Celt from the 1940s, Jock Weir, who went public about his condition. Two of Billy’s predecessors as Celtic captain, Willie Fernie and Bobby Evans, suffered degenerative conditions, Parkinson’s in the case of Evans. Their colleague the great Bobby Collins also died from Alzheimer’s disease in 2014, 12 gruelling years after he was diagnosed at the age of 70. That means four of the Celtic 1957 League Cup-winning team succumbed to degenerative brain conditions.

Three of England’s World Cup-winning players of 1966, namely Martin Peters, Nobby Stiles and Ray Wilson all developed Alzheimer’s. Jeff Astle, a prodigious header of a ball, died of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) – something more commonly associated

with boxers.

Earlier this month, Frank’s Law came into force in Scotland. It is named after Frank Kopel, the Dundee United legend who developed early-onset dementia at the age of just 59 but wasn’t entitled to the free personal care that he would have got had he been 65 – the age at which he died in 2014.

Thanks to his widow Amanda’s campaign, Frank’s Law was passed by the Scottish Parliament guaranteeing that anyone under 65 requiring personal care will receive it free. (Frank’s Law is the proof for me that our Scottish Parliament is too precious for any of its powers to be removed by a reactionary government in London.)

Nobody knows for certain yet if there is a connection between football and dementia, but there are studies going on right now to establish if there is a link. Professor Willie Stewart is doing remarkable work on the subject in Glasgow and I was struck by his statistics on the prevalence of dementia among former footballers.

Take two squads of 22 players each and one out of the 44 might suffer from dementia in the general populace – but in professional footballers of that era the incidence is much higher. As someone who studies the odds every day, I would bet that the stats alone show there is strong evidence of a link between dementia and football.

I am well aware that clubs, the football authorities and the UK Government are dead against any establishing of a link between degenerative brain disease and football, because they fear having to pay compensation or benefits.

That should not be a priority for clubs. The football associations must take the lead on this vital matter, and for too long they have dragged their heels.

We owe it to Billy McNeill and all the others, however, to have this issue hugely researched and thoroughly debated, and soon. We need the facts above all.