Alzheimer's Society and The FA partnership: Support The Supporters

We are The FA’s official charity partner. Since 2021 we’ve been working together to use the power of football to raise awareness of dementia and break down the barriers to accessing support.

Football should be unforgettable, but for thousands of fans with dementia, this isn't the case. 

One in three people born in the UK today will go on to develop dementia in their lifetime, but too many people still think dementia is just a sign of normal ageing, unsure of the symptoms, and too afraid to visit their GP.

This season Alzheimer's Society has launched its #SupportTheSupporters campaign with The FA to encourage fans to support their loved ones, as much as they love their national team or club. 

Together we're encouraging fans to look out for common signs of dementia and take the first steps in seeking a diagnosis if they, or a loved one, may be experiencing signs of dementia. 

The FA will also help us to raise vital funds towards research into earlier and more accurate diagnosis.

Diagnosis can be daunting but it's better to know - allowing more time to plan for the future and unlocking the door to treatment, care and support, so fans can continue to enjoy the beautiful game.

Visit our Memory Hub if you notice a loved one experiencing memory loss or displaying other signs of dementia. There you’ll find more information about dementia and how we can help you, as well as our symptoms checklist which can you can also complete below.

Checklist for dementia symptoms

If you're worried that you or someone else may have dementia, complete our checklist and show it to a GP or health professional to help describe your symptoms.

Complete the symptoms checklist

Raising funds

The FA partnership has raised over £1,000,000, funding Alzheimer's Society's crucial work.

This season your donations are helping to fund our vital Dementia Support Line and research that will help transform the future of dementia diagnosis, speeding up how quickly and how early we are able to diagnose dementia, changing the game for fans and players in years to come. 

Support Alzheimer's Society and The FA

Help us make sure every fan and player affected by dementia can get the support they need. Donate online to Alzheimer's Society today.

Donate online

Supporting fans

Alzheimer's Society and The FA worked together to make Wembley Stadium the first national stadium to become more dementia inclusive, including improvements to the ticketing experience online and training for stadium staff, to ensure fans affected by dementia can remain part of the game.

At a more local level, 41 County FAs have now trained as Alzheimer's Society referral partners, able to refer fans of players who come to them with concerns about dementia symptoms into Alzheimer's Society's dementia support services, where they can access the help they need.

Sport and dementia risk

Alzheimer’s Society is committed to understanding more about dementia and sport, including the causes and risk factors. We are directly funding the PREVENT study with professional footballers and rugby players, and providing scientific experts and knowledge to guide The FA’s own research programme, to best protect players for generations to come.

Making football dementia friendly

The iconic Wembley Stadium recently became the first national stadium to work with Alzheimer’s Society to become more dementia inclusive and we’ve produced a free guide for other venues wishing to achieve the same.

Four people sat in chairs looking at lyric sheets and singing

Football and dementia stories