Dean Windass posts a heartbreaking birthday message with a plea made for his footballer son Josh to get in touch with him.
On January 9th, his son Josh Windass’s 32nd birthday, Dean Windass, who is living with stage two dementia, took to Twitter, spoke of immense pride as a dad, wished him luck, but pleaded for contact.
Dean Windass (@DWindass10) wrote, alongside two photos of the pair: “Just want to wish my josh happy 32nd birthday gd luck tonight against Nottingham forest in the FA cup from a very proud DAD miss yeh ⚽️❤️ life’s too short Josh this is breaking my heart please get in touch ⚽️❤️x”
He then retweeted two tweets, both in reply to him. On of which was from Fraser Murray (@frazm79) with
a quote that read: “I fell in love with this sentence: As you grow older, you begin to understand: your father was just a man trying his best with what he knew. Forgive him. He was living life for the first time, too.”
Another reply Dean retweeted was by The Masked Tweeter (@MaskedTweeta): “Mens mental health matters, it’s OK not to be OK! Hypocrites! Dean has been diagnosed with dementia and is clearly in a horrific time of his life. He is thinking of his boy because the burden he will carry will be damning if it becomes too late, trust me! Much love Deano ❤️”
His post has gone on to get over 3,300 likes in 6 hours of publishing. It also got hundreds of replies.
— Fraser Murray (@frazm79) January 9, 2026
Mens mental health matters,it’s OK not to be OK! Hypocrites! Dean has been diagnosed with dementia and is clearly in a horrific time of his life. He is thinking of his boy because the burden he will carry will be damning if it becomes too late,trust me! Much love Deano❤️
— The Masked Tweeter (@MaskedTweeta) January 9, 2026
10 months ago, Josh Windass revealed that he found out of his dad’s dementia from a Sheffield Wednesday teammate.
Josh Windass said in an interview with SunSport: “I found out in a coffee shop. Max said, ‘Sorry to hear about your dad’s dementia’ and I thought, ‘Oh! That’s news to me!’
“He’s well loved within the football community. He’s a bit of a nutter and people like that about people.
“I don’t think he’s struggling too badly. I speak sometimes to my brother, who is keeping tabs on him. He’s sound.
“When news like this comes out people always think the worst. But it’s not a severe grade at the minute and he’s not having too many problems.
“The first thing I asked was if he still knew my name and he did, so I didn’t ask him too many questions.”
Read more of what he and his Dad Dean had to say in the article below…
Josh Windass reveals he found out of his dad Dean’s dementia from Sheffield Wednesday teammate
Here’s how social media users reacted after Dean Windass posts a heartbreaking birthday message with a plea for his son Josh to get in touch…
@andywhitespnefc: For those who have an issue with Dean and his post FUCK OFF!! SERIOUSLY FUCK OFF!! The man loves his boy and if for whatever reason he won’t reply he’s getting the message out there to let him know how he feels! Every body says if u have mental health issues then talk! Josh???
@Bllnka: Morning Dean. I met you when Huddersfield u10s played Newcastle u10s in the academy 22years ago, you were always there for Josh, every Sunday all over the north! Hope you and Josh can sort things out x
@Youngjoseph90: I hope this works out for you both, tomorrow is not promised 💙
@skinnywinger: Keep going Dean. A father and sons bond should never be separated I hope you can find peace together.
@kilburnboy: Sad to hear Dean hope he responds
@shanenotnap: Keep the faith pal, my mum and sister are now speaking again after 35 years! As you said life’s too short 👍
@JohnLyon26: I don’t know who needs to read this or see this, but I was estranged from my Dad, and the last time I saw him was in his coffin on the day of his cremation. If I could wind back time I would, but for me it’s too late and that burns me every day. Don’t be me. Looking through the prism of time I agree, I’d do the same. It wouldn’t be all skittles and rainbows, but I’d at least have been able to say what I had to say and vice versa whilst he was alive.