Leeds Rhinos & Hull FC icon Garry Schofield reveals brain damage diagnosis in rugby league farewell
Leeds legend Garry Schofield, one of rugby league’s greatest players and most well-known characters, has announced he is withdrawing from the sport following devastating medical news.
The Leeds Rhinos and Rugby League Hall of Fame member revealed he was diagnosed with brain damage last year, which will eventually develop into dementia. Writing for the final time in his weekly League Express newspaper column, Schofield confirmed he is ending his “association with the wonderful sport of rugby league that has dominated my life” in order to focus on his health.
Schofield’s problems began in December, 2019, when he underwent surgery to repair a detached retina in his left eye. As previously reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post, the operation wasn’t successful, he needed further surgery and, two years later, the damaged eye was removed.
He wrote: “Subsequent health problems have included headaches, migraines, forgetfulness, anxiety and lack of concentration, all of which led to my brain-damage diagnosis in March ‘23. Those symptoms are now part of my day-to-day life.
“My partner, Alison, is now my carer. I used to think a migraine was just a strong headache. Now I know what they’re really like, and they are horrendous. When one comes on, it’s the end of the day for me. I have to go to bed and be in complete darkness. They are intolerable.”
Schofield was born in Leeds, but began his professional career with Hull FC in 1983, where he scored 107 tries in 122 games, including 38 in one season as an 18-year-old. He also shone for Australian club Balmain, in three English off-seasons, before Leeds signed him for a world record £155,000 fee ahead of the 1987 campaign.
He remained at Headingley until moving to Huddersfield Giants just before the start of Super League in 1996, scoring 147 tries, 64 goals and 30 drop goals during 251 appearances in blue and amber. Alongside Ellery Hanley, he was Leeds’ outstanding individual of the late-1980s and early-to-mid 90s and four years ago, the YEP rated him as the club’s fifth-best player of all-time. At Test level, Schofield earned a joint-record 47 Great Britain caps, took part in four Lions tours and captained them to an epic victory against Australia at Melbourne in 1992.
He retired from playing in 1999 following spells with Doncaster and Bramley. After coaching Huddersfield and Barrow, Schofield - who was made an OBE in 1994 - remained a prominent figure in the game as an out-spoken pundit. He was a guest of the RFL at this month’s second Test between England and Tonga at AMT Headingley, in what was his farewell appearance.
“You won’t hear or see me interviewed any more,” he confirmed. “The sport just doesn’t excite me anymore. The on-field product isn’t anywhere near as entertaining as it should be and off the field, everything is so sanitised if you’re not permanently ‘on message’ and 100 per cent ‘positive’ about everything, then there’s no room for you. Balanced critical analysis has been driven out of English rugby league by a governing body and clubs simply for the selfish reason that they don't appreciate scrutiny.”