Autopsy was closure but we feel angry... my dad's footie career killed him

Family of legend Joe Kinnear on game's link with dementia

- JEREMY ARMSTRONG

FOOTBALL star Joe Kinnear died from dementia linked to repeated blows to the head when he was a player, his family say.

His daughter Russ Doffman said the sport "killed him".

She added the findings of a study of his brain have brought closure but that his loved ones remain aggrieved.

Kinnear, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2015, died in April, aged 77.

He was a defender who played 258 games for Spurs in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Republic of Ireland international then managed Wimbledon, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. The Mirror has highlighted the dangers of repeatedly heading the ball and the links to dementia in later life.

Kinnear's family are part of a group legal action against the sport's governing bodies over brain injuries allegedly caused by playing careers.