Football must immediately ban heading for children 14 and under and permanently substitute any player who has suffered a head injury, according to former player Lenny Johnrose.

The 49-year-old, whose career included spells at Blackburn, Bury, Burnley and Swansea, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in March 2017.

He said it “sickens” him that no such restrictions on heading are in place in this country, as they are for children under 11 in the United States.

His family at home – wife Nadine and children Patrick, 13, and Elizabeth, 16 – are his most important support network.

“The children have got a lot more to do because I can’t contribute physically. For half-term they’ve got a list of jobs as long as your arm, they’re having to be grown-ups almost with the things that they’re doing,” he said.

“They don’t complain, they help me get dressed daily and it’s stuff they shouldn’t have to do. They sometimes must think, ‘I’ve had enough of this’, but they never let it show. In the garden we’ve got a football net and I used to play out there with my son. I can’t do that any more and I know it must be killing them inside but they are such good children, we just get by.

“The hardest thing for me is seeing how worn out they are, but I couldn’t be more proud of them.”