At the age of 15, Roy Heaney had the world at his feet. Growing up on Park Road, Dingle, Roy had the same dream as thousands of kids across this city – he wanted to be a professional footballer. That dream was about to become a reality.
A quick and strong full-back, Roy played for Liverpool Schoolboys from 11 to 15 – winning the schools cup at Anfield during that time. His performances caught the eye of Everton and West Bromwich Albion, but his beloved Liverpool made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
From his home in Crosby, Roy, now 64, “Since the age of five, I knew I was going to become a professional footballer. That’s all I wanted to do and nothing was going to stop me from getting there.
Liverpool was the epitome. I got there, pulled on the red shirt and the first season I was there, I was really lucky.
There were three of us who were selected to train with the first team as 15-year-olds. We were there right through pre-season and it was an amazing experience. That was the 1975/76 season, so you had Keegan, Toshack, Tommy Smith – who was my idol.”
Sadly for Roy, he suffered an injury which curtailed his time at Anfield. It set a trend that would continue through his career.
He explained: “My first game for Liverpool Reserves was against Tranmere in pre-season. Unfortunately after about 15 minutes I broke my leg. It was a bad break, the season had just started but that was it, I thought my career was over.
But Liverpool were great. The gaffer came down and that was unbelievable. I remember after the injury I was going down to the operating theatre and then Bob Paisley showed up.
“He patted me on the head as I was going down for surgery and he said: ‘Keep your chin up son and we’ll see you back at Anfield’. They were great, they supported me and I was at Melwood most days trying to get fit, trying to get my leg back to a standard where I could play football again
Liverpool decided that Roy would not get back to the required level and didn’t offer him an apprenticeship. He was later signed by Bolton Wanderers, where he spent several seasons, but the injuries kept coming.
Roy said: “I was supposed to make my debut against Everton in the league but I broke my jaw. I didn’t get to do that, I was on the bench a few times, I got really frustrated. I had a few head injuries and I was making some pretty daft decisions in my life.”
A 21-year-old Roy found himself changing codes. Though he had not played the sport before, Wigan Rugby League club believed Roy’s pace and strength would make him a good winger and he was offered a contract after a trial in which he scored two tries against Warrington.
It went well for Roy but a management change in his second season meant that he found himself transferred to Salford. Another injury brought his career in top-level sport to an end.
“I was knocked unconscious and my cruciate ligaments went”, said Roy. “I received a bad blow – I got a bad pass, picked it up off the floor and went to crash in at the corner.
“Three of them came across and just went straight into me. It was a bit of a sticky pitch, so my leg stuck in the mud and all my weight went to the right and the knee just detached.”
Roy believes his sporting career has had a devastating impact on his life. He explained: “At that point (working in the pub), I was really struggling with mood, perception and concentration. I had memory lapses. It was quite mild then but that carried on.
“I had issues with my relationship and I couldn’t really cope with changes and had mood issues, memory problems. They were really complicated issues that were going on – I didn’t feel like the same person. I was really experiencing personality disorders and didn’t know what it was.”
In 2018, a psychiatrist told Roy that he may have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – a brain condition believed to be linked to blows to the head. Eight months ago, he was diagnosed with early-onset dementia and was told by a neurologist last week that he likely has Alzheimer’s disease and CTE.
For Roy, there is no doubt this is the result of playing sport at the top level. He recounted a number of collisions from his career – being knocked unconscious at 11, a broken nose and fractured Orbis in training, colliding with the post and being knocked out in the Youth Cup, as well as two clashes in one game.
He explained: “The worst one was when I was playing for Bolton against Leeds when I was about 19. I went in for a challenge, won the ball and I lost track of where the winger went.
