Liverpool and Wales legend John Toshack diagnosed with dementia

Martin Macdonald

• 25 Mar 2026 11:30 CDT
• 2 min read

News

Liverpool and Wales great John Toshack has been diagnosed with dementia, his family has confirmed.

As a player, Toshack played for Cardiff, Liverpool and Swansea, while he was an icon for the Wales national side.

While with Liverpool, he won three First Division titles, one FA Cup, two UEFA Cups and one European Cup, among other accolades.

As a manager, his career was nomadic to say the least as he had 19 different spells as a boss at various clubs, some more than once. Though he never managed his beloved Liverpool, he did take Real Madrid to a La Liga title in 1990, while he had spells with Besiktas, Swansea, Real Sociedad, Saint-Etienne, and Catania among many more.

Between 2004 and 2010, Toshack managed Wales, having previously been in charge for a short spell in 1994. His influence helped with the development of future legends like Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen.

The 77-year-old hasn't coached since 2018 and it has now been confirmed that he is suffering from dementia.

"It's a terrible disease," his son Cameron Toshack told the Daily Mail.

"It's the short-term memory where we're seeing it – I speak to him most days and if we chat in the afternoon, he might not remember that we also spoke in the morning.

"But if I ask him about the Liverpool days, or [Real] Sociedad or [Real] Madrid, the detail is amazing.

"The other day he was telling me about a Real Madrid game against Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan and exactly how he tweaked his midfield to deal with Marco van Basten.

"The game could have been yesterday, his memory was so clear."

Cameron is a coach in his own right and was Leeds assistant manager between 2022 and 2023.

Even though his dad is dealing with dementia, Cameron has revealed that he still receives coaching advice from him.

"I'll talk to him about what we're doing in Thailand and he still gives great advice," he said.

"As a manager, he could always see two or three moves ahead, and it was always in the genes for me, really."

Toshack's first venture into management came as a player-manager with Swansea in 1978 and he notably took them from the Fourth Division to the First Division with successfive promotions.

In 2022, he was what he described himself as "seriously ill" in hospital after contracting Covid and pneumonia.

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