IAN PORTERFIELD wrote his name into football folklore by scoring the winning goal in one of the greatest FA Cup final upsets of all time when Sunderland, third from bottom of the old Second Division, defeated the mighty Leeds United in 1973.

Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan's father Steve was there at Wembley to revel in the Wearsiders' finest hour when goalkeeper Jimmy Montgomery performed heroics against Don Revie's side that featured such legends as Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles, Peter Lorimer and Allan Clarke.

It was a day he savoured for decades but now there is little more than a flicker of recognition as Mr Regan is one of the thousands of people to be afflicted by the dreadful condition that is Alzheimer's.

Little wonder his son has become so passionate about treatment and care for the disease and is delighted that the SFA and 13 leading clubs are behind the Football Memories project which uses the sport to trigger recollections in sufferers.

Dementia in all of its forms is equally as painful and distressing to those close to those afflicted - and the SFA chief has candidly explained that he is no different.

He said: "It's a cause close to my heart, one of personal interest to me because my dad is in the early stages of dementia, so I know how hard it is. It has a massive impact on your mood and your ability to recall things.

"Your relationship with your family changes over time: the circle of people you know gets smaller and smaller until you're left with your wife and your immediate family - everybody else, you start to lose touch with.

"It's heart-breaking to watch it change people's lives so I'm a huge fan of anything, like Football Memories, which can make a difference. I've seen what it can do through the work of the Alzheimer's Scotland team.

"They've run a series of programmes across the country - there are currently 95 groups across Scotland - where people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's specifically come together to use football memories to try and gain some recollection and break through some of the barriers they've been experiencing.

"Ladies use embroidery for the same purpose and they make quilts, using memories on the squares of the quilts to trigger recall of events which happened in their lives.

"It's fantastic to see the impact that this can have and I'm delighted that UEFA have stepped up and invested 50,000 euros to help us run this project It will help us make a difference to people's lives in Scotland.

"My dad will be 85 this year and he is a football man - a Sunderland fanatic. We've used football programmes with him.

"I have a huge collection, going back to when I was a foot high and it goes all the way back to FA Cup finals from the 1950s through to the 1980s.

"My uncles and grandads gave me their programmes, too, and we utilise them with my dad, asking him: 'Do you remember this game? Who was it who scored? What was the crowd?

"Do you remember the sixth round of the Cup, when we beat Manchester City and then got to Wembley and beat Leeds in the final in 1973?'

"When we do that you can sometimes see the light coming on. Then it will go out again but you've just got to keep working at it. It is quite sad but it has worked in Scotland."

Rangers and Scotland defender Davie Provan is one of many ex-professionals who have been badly affected by dementia but there are success stories.

Regan said: "Robert Craig, who is the chief executive of our National Football Museum, told me about a lady who had dropped her husband off one morning at a project in Paisley.

"She told him that she had left home with a sad old man and come back with her husband and I thought that was a really powerful comment. She didn't know the guy she'd taken there but she'd got her husband back and that says an awful lot for me.

"It's a terrible disease but it's one which more and more people are getting and we're all coming to terms with it.

"A lot of footballing greats in Scotland are suffering from it now but it's not just football: this is a disease which is becoming increasingly prevalent.

"You hear about more and more people who have it and it seems to be affecting people at a younger age nowadays.

"It takes away certain parts of your life because, while you may have your physical health, you haven't got your mental health or the ability to relate to your family. When you can't recognise your sons, daughters and grandkids and nephews, that's pretty depressing."

For more information on the Football Memories project and how it supports Alzheimer Scotland, visit www.footballmemoriesleague.co.uk