David Serella (born 24 September 1952) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played 376 league and cup matches for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. Serella now lives and works in Lytham St Annes. He was one of the two players assaulted by Newcastle fans during the 1974 sixth round FA Cup tie on 9 March 1974, whilst playing in central defence alongside Bob Chapman. Newcastle United fans invaded the pitch and although the match was completed the FA ordered that the game was scrubbed from the record books and replayed at Goodison Park. In May 2007 Serella stood for election in the Kilnhouse Ward of the Fylde Borough Council local council elections. In February 2017, Serella revealed to

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

that he was living with a form of pre-dementia caused by

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets wor ...

. The disease is associated with repeated blows to the head and is well known for affecting

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

s and

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

players. Serella was discussing with

Vanessa Feltz Vanessa Jane Feltz (born 21 February 1962) is an English television presenter, broadcaster, and journalist. She has hosted numerous versions of her own chat shows and appeared on various television shows, including ''Vanessa'' (1994–1998, 202 ...

the results of a study that showed footballers, particularly

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

s called upon to

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

heavy footballs frequently, to be at risk from the disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serella, David 1952 births Living people English men's footballers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from King's Lynn Men's association football defenders Association football players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy