Dream is all players wear headgear and no-one even notices – Manchester 62 owner

The owner of Gibraltar Football League club Manchester 62 is fighting for protective headbands to become mandatory in the professional game.

American entrepreneur Michael Anton Monsour, who has two decades of experience working in senior living and memory care, has made it the club’s mission to increase awareness around concussion and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in football.

In January 2023 Manchester 62, the British territory club – named after Manchester United, with Sir Matt Busby’s permission – became the first top-flight European team to have all 10 outfield players wear protective headwear designed to reduce the risk of concussive and sub-concussive events in football.

The headwear absorbs and disperses impacts and reduces acceleration from falls, collisions and headers.

Manchester 62 have also teamed up with the head injury charity Concussion Legacy Foundation to provide data-driven in-season case studies on the issue of CTE and the overall effectiveness of current protective devices.

And Monsour wants to see a time when headwear is an every day part of football.

“The partnership with Concussion Legacy Foundation has turned our team into this laboratory on the pitch,” Monsour told the PA news agency.

“We want to create and provide in-season data, we are at the forefront of the research group. We are able to capture all instances of concussive and sub-concussive events during a match.

“The headgear was part of a case study which showed about 73 per cent reduction of pressure on the brain when using them.

“At the minute they are not perfect, but they are a bridge to the solution which means we can advance and expand.

“We want to go to FIFA and UEFA and say, ‘Listen guys, is this not worth a shot?’.

“People didn’t even bat an eye over shin-guards, we are talking about a headband with Kevlar protection and a little bit of science and maybe players can live long enough to see their grandkids.

“My dream is to be in my 60s and all the players are wearing headgear and no-one even notices. I am fighting for normality, that’s all I am doing, to remove the stigma.”

Manchester United defender Raphael Varane is the latest high-profile player to speak out against current concussion rules in the game and said his body has been “damaged” by repeated heading.

Monsour wants more action at the top of the game and for it to filter through to youth and academy levels.

The American, who has recently secured external funding to allow his club to survive extinction, added: “Raphael Varane addressed this. Taking a player out of a game for a few extra minutes for a concussion test is a joke. It doesn’t save them.

“Clubs need to engage in this. It has to come from the top. We are trying to save our kids but we have to inspire our kids. There needs to be an education.

“The idea is to create a purpose beyond the pitch and instil the idea to fight for something more than themselves.”