Howey, who was a defender for Manchester City and Newcastle, has noticed he sometimes struggles to get words out or forget things that were said 10 minutes earlier.
Short-term memory loss can be an early sign of dementia and he had an MRI scan which showed some cognitive decline.
The 53-year-old said the effects of heading were never really talked about when he played and defenders would even ‘break in’ their head with extra practice in pre-season so it would not feel so soft.
“When you think about it now it’s crazy, but there wasn’t the kind of thought about what could possibly happen afterwards. It was always just a case of, this is what my job is,” said Howey, who was capped four times by England in the 1990s.
He is among a group of claimants taking legal action against football governing bodies over brain injuries allegedly suffered during their careers.
While older footballs in the 1960s and 70s were heavier, the speed and movement of more modern balls can cause their own problems.
“There would be times you’d head it and it would immediately go black, that’s from a shot where it’s coming at pace. You’d have that ‘Where am I feeling?’ and then realise very quickly that this is where I am. And then you just got on with it,” he added.
Both Pallister and Howey are friends of the family of former Middlesbrough defender Bill Gates, who died last year aged 79 as a result of CTE and inspired the Head Safe Football charity, founded by his wife Judith, who helped organise the first adult football match with heading restrictions at Spennymoor Town in 2021.
“It’s only when you hear the different tragic stories of some of the ex-players, you kind of think that ‘Wow, you know this, this could happen to me,'” said Howey.
David Parnaby, assistant coach of the Spennymoor under-nines, has welcomed a rule change which is seeing deliberate heading in matches being phased out by the FA, external at under-11 level over three seasons.
“We think it’s a win-win situation here because heading’s been taken out the game, so first and foremost we’re protecting the boys,” said Parnaby, an ex-Middlesbrough academy director, whose son Stuart played in the Premier League for Boro.
“In my humble, honest opinion, the game has improved at this level. The boys are now being creative with passing in and dribbling in. They really enjoy it.”
While both Pallister and Howey say they would probably still have played the game knowing the risks, they say more can be done to educate current players and help former professionals in their retirement.
