Former Bath striker takes new PFA role promoting brain health

Former Bath City striker Alex Fletcher has taken on a new role with the Professional Footballers’ Association, focusing on brain health one year after suffering a major head injury.

Last November, the 25-year-old player collided with advertising hoardings during a National League South game and underwent a significant head injury. Subsequently, he required surgery, was in a coma, and refrained from playing football for a period of 10 months.

Fletcher’s new appointment is in the PFA’s Brain Health division, where he is tasked with visiting clubs to engage players in discussions about the relationship between brain health and playing football, sharing insights and helping them develop an appreciation of this important issue. As a former player who faced such challenges and with a personal understanding of the impact of that life-changing incident, he hopes to support other players to think about their own long-term health and well-being.

Describing how the ordeal changed his perspective on brain health, Fletcher mentioned, “I know that, as a young and healthy person, it’s not something people necessarily think about as potentially impacting them. I hope that these conversations will help other players begin to think about their own long-term health and wellbeing.”

Following his recovery, Fletcher returned to Bath City in August and appeared as a substitute later that month at the start of the 2023-24 season. Recently, he announced his move to fellow sixth-tier club Weston-super-Mare AFC for the remainder of the campaign.

This week, Fletcher undertook his first club visit in his new PFA role, to League One side Exeter City. In response to his efforts, PFA chief executive Maheta Molango said, “He is an impressive young man with a unique perspective on the importance of brain health. He has worked his way back from a major injury that has had a profound impact not just on his football career but also his life.”

Molango added, “He is motivated to use his position within the game for good and, as a current player, he’s someone who I know our members will be able to relate to.”