The PFA have called on football’s stakeholders to come together to create an industry-wide dementia care fund to support former players living with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases.

New PFA chief executive Maheta Molango is heavily involved in the push for a care fund, the details of which the players’ union feel can be confirmed in due course.

It comes after Sportsmail revealed the limitations that Molango was working with, as he holds no sway over the allocation of funding.

Molango, who joined the organisation in summer, said: ‘I have been pleased to see how all the English football organisations have been working on a joint approach to this issue.

‘It’s great that the entire football family has come together to raise awareness of neurodegenerative conditions, improve education about these illnesses and crucially, find ways to support current and former players living with or at risk of dementia and other conditions.

‘When I initially joined the PFA as CEO, one of my first priorities was for myself and PFA Chairman, John Mousinho, to meet with families to better understand their needs.

‘The PFA will always be an advocate for former players living with neurodegenerative conditions and their families, so now we must consult with them before finalising the parameters of our joint action plan to ensure PFA members have access to the best care possible.’

The renewed appeal follows months of talks with the major organisations in the game, including CEOs from The FA, Premier League and EFL, where commitment to this level of support has been provisionally agreed.

The FA and the PFA published a study that revealed that ex-professional Scottish footballers born between 1900 and 1976 had an approximately 3.5x increased risk of having dementia as a cause of death.

Since the report, the PFA has been calling for the entire football family to collaborate on a joint response to the issue.

Following months of discussions, a draft action is in the process of being agreed, with full details to be confirmed once football families living with dementia have confirmed the proposal meets their needs.

Over the last ten months, the PFA has worked closely with the other football stakeholders on an action plan to best protect our members in the area of brain health.

The collaboration has led to the adoption of heading guidelines across the leagues, commitment to further research programmes and concussion protocols now in place at all clubs.