The daughter of Everton icon Mike Lyons is hoping the Professional Footballers’ Association can help bring him back home from Australia as he continues to live with dementia.
Born in Mill Lane Maternity Hospital in Everton and raised at 5 Malpas Road, Croxteth, only five other men have played more matches for the Blues than Lyons’ 473 appearances, and they all won at least two major trophies while at Goodison Park (Neville Southall 751; Brian Labone 534; Dave Watson 528; Ted Sagar 497 and Kevin Ratcliffe 493).
However, the 74-year-old, who lives in the northern suburbs of Perth, is now paying the devastating price for his bravery on the pitch.
Dementia diagnosis and family's campaign
A new book, The Man Who Bled Blue: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Mike Lyons, details that in July 2021 he was diagnosed with a combination of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, with possibly some other damage to his brain caused by repetitive head injuries. His family believes that his lifetime in football is clearly the cause.
Previously, Lyons lived at the home of his son, Michael, in Clarkson, but as his disease progressed, daily difficulties grew. Although an Everton flag hanging from the balcony of the house acted as a beacon when he returned home, he would increasingly get lost and phone friends and family abroad at all hours of the night.
For the time being, Lyons is living in a care facility where his room is adorned with framed images from his football days, including one of Colin Harvey and his backroom team at Everton and another of Howard Wilkinson, his old Sheffield Wednesday manager. But his daughter Francesca is seeking support to get him back to Merseyside.
Daughter's plea for support
Speaking on a special edition of the Royal Blue podcast to discuss The Man Who Bled Blue, she told the ECHO: “Unfortunately there are so many former players now sadly being diagnosed. The evidence is there, it speaks volumes and so many footballers’ families are affected by it now.
“They (those who primarily played in the centre-back position like Lyons) are five times more likely than the general population to be diagnosed with dementia.
“I’m trying to get my dad back to England. He wants to come home.
“Obviously from a personal point of view, I’d love him to be home to spend time here and it feels like we’re on borrowed time in some ways. I would love to get him back and hopefully that is going to happen.
“There’s talk of the PFA potentially helping while John Stiles (son of England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles, who had dementia brought on through chronic traumatic encephalopathy from the repeated heading of footballs) and Dawn Astle (daughter of Jeff Astle, who died aged 59 from degenerative brain disease with consultant neuropathologist Dr Derek Robson telling an inquest that Astle had had a brain condition which was likely to have been exacerbated by heading a football and he found considerable evidence of trauma, similar to that found in boxers’ brains) have been really helpful.
“She was one of the first people I spoke to when I discovered this could potentially be an issue and she’s incredible because she’s lived it and been there as well.”
Need for education and awareness
Francesca added: “I think for players now we are more aware of the risks. There is more evidence and there are concussion procedures in place with more checks.
“With my dad it wasn’t as well-known as it is now. I think a lot needs to be done to support the families that are suffering through this because a lot of them have been left without any help at all.
“For me, I didn’t know anything about it when I first found out. I didn’t know which way to turn or what to do.
“You need a lot of practical help over what needs to be done. I did have lots of people asking: ‘What can I do? How can I help?,’ but at that point I didn’t know what I needed.
“We need to help the families that are suffering now and provide the education for future generations. There have been changes for grassroots football with rules around heading the football now for young players, I just think we need more education and more awareness.”
Author's insight and current condition
Simon Hart, author of The Man Who Bled Blue, joined Francesca for the podcast having worked closely with Lyons’ family, including his brother and sister, on the project. He said: “I spoke to Gary Stevens about it because he lives in Perth now, not so far from Mike. He told me it wasn’t just the blows you got in games and concussions but practising all the time at Bellefield.
“He talked about balls being kicked from one half of the pitch and the defenders, like Mike, would then be heading it back into the other half. He’d be doing more of that than anyone on the training pitch.
“Nowadays there are limits on how much heading can be done during the training week and it’s quite strict. Hopefully that will mean fewer of these tragic cases that we’re seeing now.
“All the centre-backs of Francesca’s dad’s generation, the likes of Gordon McQueen and Dave Watson (the former Sunderland, Manchester City and Southampton player rather than Everton’s aforementioned last FA Cup-winning captain), the suffering we have seen has been awful.”
While Lyons’ short-term memory is deteriorating, for now at least, he is still able to find some comfort in engrossing himself in watching football matches, especially ones from his own playing era.
Francesca said: “I think that’s all he ever wants to do. He’s actually doing really well, he still laughs and jokes and everything.
“Obviously he’s really forgetful and doesn’t remember certain things but he’s still got his personality, it’s just very difficult. It’s also very uncertain because you don’t know what the future could be and how it’s going to go.”
