PETER CORMACK, the former Scotland, Hibs, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest midfielder, is suffering from dementia, his family have revealed.
The decision was made to go public with the 73-year-old’s condition after a study from Glasgow University revealed that footballers were more likely to suffer from the illness than the general population.
Cormack’s wife Marion is convinced her husband’s long career in the game is to blame. Speaking in the Daily Record, she said: “We were given the proper diagnosis two years ago, but we started noticing changes as far back as 2002.
“Even then, I suspected it had something to do with Peter’s career as a footballer. But doctors were unsure. The new research helps prove a link, but it’s not enough. There needs to be much more done.
“Football authorities should have started looking at this as soon as Jeff Astle died in 2002 – not wait until 2017.
“We know there’s been rumours about Peter recently, so we’ve decided, as a family, to speak out.
“Some of the stories have been hurtful, but Peter is unaffected. He was in football for so long he has never been fazed by people talking and whispering about him.
“But we want people and fans to realise when they’re talking to him that he isn’t being rude or disrespectful, it’s just his condition.”
Edinburgh born, Cormack signed for Hibs in 1962 and played for the Easter Road outfit for eight years before moving to Forest in 1970.
He was at the City Ground for two seasons before Bill Shankly took him to Anfield where he won five major trophies in a four-year spell. He also played for Bristol City, Partick Thistle, Toronto City and had a second spell at Hibs before retiring in 1980.
Cormack won nine caps for his country and also had managerial stints at Firhill, Cowdenbeath and Morton.
