The Miners dig deep to reach Lewy Body Society fund-raising goal for non-league football hero

Supporters of Maltby Main FC are raising money for the Lewy Body Society after one of the club’s most faithful servants was diagnosed with the disease.

Lewy body dementia is the second most common form of dementia in older people but is still relatively unknown. Its symptoms are quite different to other types of dementia so it frequently misdiagnosed.

David Watts, vice chairman and treasurer of the Miners, is hoping to increase awareness of the disease for a good friend of the club.

John Mills (72) is a stalwart of Maltby Main from playing for the team a handful of times in the 1970s, volunteering since the 1990s and washing the kit to part-time treasurer and then club secretary.

“He probably even managed the club at some point when they had nobody else!” joked David.

David, a building surveyor with Doncaster Council, said: “When I started as vice chairman six or seven years ago, the chairman immediately told me to look after John because he was making mistakes.

"John had taught me many things over the decade I’ve worked closely with him and then I took John under my wing. That’s when we got really close.”

He had already noticed things weren’t right with him.

“John’s quite a funny bloke, one of those who throws a one-liner. He would hear somebody say something and he’d chuck a sentence in to make that funny and it always landed. But he just wasn’t interacting with the banter. He almost looked at you as if you didn’t know what you were saying.

“He was shuffling rather than walking and couldn’t keep up with all the football club duties. And since he’s retired from a daily routine of a physical job, that’s when he really dipped.”

“Millsy,” as he is known, is now cared for at a dementia unit at Rotherham Hospital after he became too unwell to remain at home with his wife Anne.

Still a huge figure at the club and keen to hear results for his beloved team, David makes sure he drops in a match day programme and John occasionally manages to attend half a match with his daughter Katie.

Lewy body dementia is a complex and challenging disease that affects memory, thinking, movement, sleep and behaviour.

David said: “At the football club we have a charity each season. Last year was Parkinson’s UK, which John was diagnosed with prior to being told he had Lewy body dementia. I was totally naïve about what it was, I think lots of people think dementia means Alzheimer’s but Lewy bodies is so different.

“When I read about all the symptoms it was very clear he had it and he had finally been diagnosed correctly.

“We are hoping to raise £500 for Lewy Body Society and more awareness about the disease. We have a big bucket at the ground that’s getting fuller each home game!”

David is also being sponsored to run the same distance as ‘The Miners’ will travel to their 21 away games in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division over the 2024-25 season.

With opponents as far away as Louth in Lincolnshire, he will have to put in more than 1,000km before next summer.

Jacqui Cannon, CEO of Lewy Body Society, said: “We are tackling the misconceptions about Lewy body dementia every day with the help of people like David.

"The team spirit on and off the pitch at Maltby Main is incredible and we are looking forward to seeing David’s results at the end of the season.

"Whatever happens on match days, it is a win for people living with Lewy body dementia and their families. Thank you to everyone involved.”

Support Maltby Main FC’s fundraising efforts: at https://www.justgiving.com/page/maltbymain2425charity

For more information about Lewy body dementia, visit www.lewybody.org