Sheffield United legend's Memory Lane project backed by ex-pro's and former Sheffield Wednesday stars

But the organiser of the gathering wanted it to be an uplifting occasion. And fortunately it was, with representatives of teams from across the region and entire country attending the inaugural meeting of Tony Currie’s Memory Lane club.

“The whole idea,” Currie told The Star, “Is to make these get together seem like a night out with the lads. And the girls too, because everyone is welcome to come along and they’re all part of the footballing family.

“A lot of the old boys are having problems with various different things. But the idea behind this is simply to get everyone in a room, get us all back together and get the memory working. It’s about working your mind, because that’s really important.”

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Currie, the former United and England midfielder turned Blades ambassador, was inspired to organise the event after learning of a similar project being organised by Rotherham. John Breckin, who made over 400 appearances for The Millers, was present at Bramall Lane on Thursday lunchtime in order to lend his support and issue a plea for the area’s other sporting institutions to follow suit.

“We started our one about 16 months or so ago,” Breckin explained. “It started during the Covid-19 lockdown, when the family of an old friend got in touch and said their dad was having a difficult time of it and was there anything we could do to help. So a few of us organised a Zoom call, had a great time chatting and catching up, and it grew from there.”

“I’ve lost so many old team mates and people I played with,” Breckin added. “We’ve got to help each other.”

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Mel Sterland, previously of Sheffield Wednesday, also accepted Currie’s invitation to attend. He enjoyed mingling with other guests, including Keith Edwards, Ted Hemsley, Carl Asaba, Charlie Williamson and Brian Joyce; swapping stories, remembering past meetings and generally chewing the fat.

“It was brilliant to be there,” he said, after accompanying Williamson to the event at Bramall Lane. “It could have been a sad affair and I suppose, in a sense, the reasons why things like this are so important are. But it was full of fun, laughter and enjoyment.”

“I never realised, I’ve got to admit, how serious things like this are,” Sterland conceded. “You never know what is going to happen 10 or 20 years from now and to know some of the old boys have problems puts everything into perspective. They’re going through a lot and so are their wives and partners and families.

“Fair play to TC, total respect. As everyone knows, I’m a massive Wednesdayite. But this isn’t about clubs. It’s about football and the football family. It was a privilege.”

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John Garrett, United’s club historian and a member of staff for over a quarter-of-a-century, opened proceedings by remembering how he had once accompanied the late, great Joe Shaw to a funeral when a chance encounter with a supporter revealed “he was struggling a bit.” “The guy came up to Joe and said ‘Mr Shaw, you were one of the best I ever saw. You should have had 100 England caps and I’m a Sheffield Wednesday fan,” Garrett continued. “Joe looked at me and asked ‘What’s he talking about?’ I replied ‘Your football career, Joe.’ He replied: ‘What career?’”

For Dawn Astle, the date of the get-together was poignant; coming 21 years to the day since her father Jeff passed away after being diagnosed with a degenerative brain condition. A consultant neuropathologist later found it was linked to the number of times he had headed a football during spells with Notts County and most famously West Bromwich Albion. Like Currie, Astle was also capped by England.

“This is an amazing project,” Dawn said. “It would be great to have one at every single club in the English Football League. Dad’s death, it devastated me. It crushed me. We knew, when the coroner ruled it was an industrial disease, that he won’t have been the only case.”

“Professional footballers,” she continued. “They are three times more likely to suffer from dementia than the average person in the street. There’s also much higher rates among them of things like Parkinson’s and motor neurone disease. That tells you everything. It’s why we can’t stop raising awareness, helping and trying to make sure steps are taken to ensure it doesn’t continue.”

Currie has already organised a second gathering of the Memory Lane club, which is scheduled for the middle of next month.

“This was the launch, so it’s not always going to be about speeches and talks, although they were really important because they helped out everything into context,” he said, acknowledging he was proud of the fact that the Lord Mayor of Sheffield and her predecessor were also present. “I was really taken aback, touched and honoured in fact, that so many people came out to help put their weight behind what we’re trying to do. I’ve been going to the ones John has been doing at Rotherham and, if these ones can be half as good as the ones that he does then I’ll be a really happy man.”

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