The widow of Dundee United legend Frank Kopel says Scottish football authorities must do more to help cover costs of caring for players struck by dementia.
It comes as charity Head Safe Football calculated that caring for ex-footballers with the disease could cost £1billion over the next 30 years.
Amanda Kopel said: "When Frankie was first diagnosed in 2008, I received a call from the Players Union saying they didn't have any funds to help us, but could offer me a free one-hour counselling session.
"That's all we were ever offered. Frankie and other players like Billy McNeill died because they were injured doing a job they loved, by heading the ball.
"They paid their taxes and National Insurance, but Frankie got no help from the SFA. The attitude from them was 'you've entertained us all these years but now you're on the scrapheap, tough. Why should we pay to help you?'
"But Frankie and others diagnosed with dementia played for this organisation – they had a duty of care. They do have the funding to help, and I won't listen to them any longer saying that they don't. They need to stop sitting on the fence and help former players."
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Frank died in 2014, aged 65, after a career which included playing for Dundee United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Arbroath and Forfar Athletic.
Amanda believes his diagnosis was down to him heading the ball thousands of times and has backed calls for a ban on the practice by 2030.
She has collaborated with lobby group Heading Out, founded by journalist Mike Edwards, who gave up his career at STV to care for his mother who was diagnosed with dementia.
It cited an academic study revealing footballers are three-and-a-half times more likely to receive a diagnosis of a neuropathological disease like dementia, rising to five times more likely if they were a defender.
Hundreds of former footballers have publicly confirmed they have been diagnosed, though it is likely to be the tip of the iceberg, with many choosing to keep their struggle private.
Scientists also believe modern footballers are likely to be at even greater risk as the balls they work with are travelling at much higher velocity than the old leather balls, which means they can cause more damage to the brain.
Because many ex-footballers are diagnosed with early onset dementia in their 50s, and are otherwise healthy thanks to active lifestyles, they can need expensive care for far longer than others, resulting in the £1billion figure calculated by Head Safe.
Labour MSP Michael Marra is calling for football-related dementia to be treated as an industrial injury. He said: "We need to recognise brain injuries in football as the undeniable industrial injury they are and government must work with the game to find a way forward that gives those heroes the care they deserve." The Professional Footballers Association Scotland and the SFA were approached for comment.
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