EXCLUSIVE: First football match with NO heading allowed will take place between ex-pros this month in pilot scheme to try and help tackle dementia

The first football game with heading restrictions will take place on September 26

The match between former professionals will take place at Spenymoor Town 

Dr Willie Stewart led a study which found a link between heading and dementia

No headers are allowed outside the box in the first-half of the pilot match

Heading the ball will be banned completely in the second-half of the test game. 

study discovered that defenders, who head the ball the most, have a five-fold risk of developing dementia compared to the general public. Goalkeepers, who hardly ever head the ball, have no increased risk.

The research also found that the longer a player’s career lasted — in other words, the more headers they made — the greater the risk of neurodegenerative disease. These findings prompted Dr Stewart to ask football’s authorities to consider whether heading was necessary.

Dr Judith Gates, chair and co-founder of Head for Change, stressed that her charity are not calling for an outright ban on heading. That is a decision for football’s authorities such as world governing body FIFA to make after conducting their own trials, she says.

But it is hoped that this fixture will be useful in showing what the game looks like and answer key questions such as how players bring the ball down from goal-kicks.