100 ex-professional footballers to be offered free health screenings

The Irish Professional Footballers Benevolent Association (IPFBA) will be offering free health screenings to a hundred retired footballers in January.

Cork-based healthcare company Advanced Medical Services (AMS) will provide the medical personnel and expertise for four days of screening at The Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone on January 8,9,15 and 16. Both male and female players are eligible for the screenings.

“This is a historic move by the IPFBA and allows retired players to undergo the health screening that they may have been putting off for one reason or another," said IPFBA chairperson Harry McCue. "I passionately urge all of our members to register for the tests.”

Irish Professional Footballers Benevolent Association (IPFBA) was established to address health and financial difficulties for former players. Multiple studies show that ex-pros have been disproportionally struggling with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia.

“This new screening programme allows Advanced Medical Services’ proven expertise to help another cohort of Irish sports’ people at a crucial time of their lives,” said AMS managing director Mary Good.

The IPFBA has raised more than €70,000 since its launch in February 2024 and has been supported by some of Irish football's most recognisable names, including John Giles, Liam Brady and Niall Quinn, who held the Three Wise Men fundraising event in Vicar Street in April.

For more information on who can sign up and how, visit this link.