Jeff Astle was a player that made history. But aside from the glorious chapters of his life on the pitch, away from the floodlights, Jeff’s story is a tragic testament to the effects of CTE.

How it was discovered and the events that followed are remarkable. It’s a story that sent tremors throughout the Football Association, tremors that erupted across the globe and continue to rock both the world and the Astle Family.

Host Hana Walker-Brown meets Dr Bennett Omalu. A man so integral to the story of CTE, that they made a movie about him with Will Smith in the starring role.

Doctor Omalu was the driving force behind the discovery of CTE amongst American NFL players including Pittsburgh Steeler, Mike Webster. Doctor Omalu believed this discovery would change everything; a truth that could save thousands of lives the world over and change sport forever, but one that wouldn’t be well received by the sporting bodies he was up against. Something the Astle family would also soon find out.

In comparison to men, the research on female brain injury is alarmingly low. The common term associated with woman and concussion is TBI – Traumatic Brain Injury – defined as “an alteration in brain function or other evidence of brain pathology caused by an external force.“

An external force like a football, or a boxing glove, or a fist. In this episode, Hana explores the story of one of the first cases of CTE ever reported in a woman.

Through her investigation, Hana meets the doctors and scientists dedicating their lives to researching female traumatic brain injury, and hears devastating personal testimony from survivors of intimate partner violence.

In this last episode Hana returns to the Midlands for one final meeting with the Astle family on the opening night of For The Love Of The Game, a play written by Mike Howl about Jeff’s life and death. She visits the Hawthorns – West Bromwich Albion’s football ground – to meet the Albion Memories Dementia Group, an organisation which provides space for partners and caregivers to chat with players of the past, share old photographs and trophies, and discuss their shared loved of the game to evoke memories that have been lost.