Here's to Dean Windass, Boro's raging bull

Dean Windass is one of those footballers you tend to remember. He played for my beloved Middlesbrough less than 50 times, but where other more celebrated signings sail in and out and leave little in the way of long lasting impressions, Windass had the kind of raging bull in a china shop qualities which stick in the mind.

His disciplinary record was not good (he claims to have been sent off three times in one match while playing in Scotland), and his approach to the game was hustle-bustle rudimentary, with flashes of power and skill. But he had heart. And if he was playing for your team, you knew it mattered to him that it mattered to you.

A cold and very miserable afternoon at Chelsea nearly 10 years ago springs to mind. That Windass started the game ahead of the Croatian international Alen Boksic, a supremely talented yet only semi-detached member of the then Boro team, says a lot. That his performance, good, bad and ugly, is all I remember of the match says even more.

In short we lost, 1-0. Windass threw himself around with great energy and little success, getting the indignant Chelsea keeper sent off in the process following his protests at a Windass "tackle" which owed more to WWF than the FA Cup. When substituted in the 81st minute (I looked it up) he was in a minority of Boro players still giving it their best shot.

That was the point; every dream Boro team of mine from any era will include a player who gave his all based on (relatively) limited ability (others would include Gary Hamilton, Dean Glover and Robbie Mustoe, since you ask).

Perhaps it is because by straining every sinew for the team - and they are by nature team players - they are forging a link with the fans who see their passion converted into commitment on the pitch.

Cult status often beckons for such likely lads; adulation from the terraces, the focus of thousands as he withdraws from the arena at the end of the game.

And what then when that withdrawal is more permanent, marking the end of a career and not just a match? Windass played on for as long as he could, at the likes of Darlington and Scarborough. Now though he has retired and, in an incredibly candid and powerful interview, talked about his mental health problems since retirement.

Like all prominent people who do, his words, repeated in the newspapers in the towns where he plied his trade, make a big difference.

And in some ways because he was not a star player with household name recognition his testimony is all the more compelling. Windass succeeded because he could relate to the people supporting him from the terraces.

His experience - whatever its underlying cause - underlines how mental illness can happen to anyone. One can only hope that with the right support he will be able to find a way to recover.