It’s another challenge, says former Wick Academy stalwart on living with Parkinson’s
For 15 seasons Peter Budge was a rock-solid presence at the heart of the Wick Academy defence and later had two spells as manager at Harmsworth Park. He was a highly qualified and widely respected youth coach with Ross County and also took on the role of football development officer in an initiative involving the Scottish FA and local authorities in the Highlands, Orkney and the Western Isles.
As a commanding centre-half in the North Caledonian League and Highland League, as well as in summer football, Peter was accustomed to winning his battles. Now, at the age of 63, he is having to contend with an altogether different adversary in the form of Parkinson’s, the progressive neurological condition for which there is currently no cure.
The diagnosis came eight years ago, although Peter had been aware for a while that something was wrong. Studies have pointed to a possible link between the cumulative impact of heading a ball and the chances of developing neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s, although Peter can’t be sure this is a factor in his own case.
He is now a resident at Seaview House care home in Wick.
“You could say I’ve had a couple of head knocks over the years – playing football for 15 seasons, summer and winter, with not much rest,” Peter said.
“In my day the keeper would kick the ball up the park, right up the middle, and it would be ‘Peter’s ball!’ and I’d head it away.
“They don’t do that now, or hardly ever – it’s the ball played on the deck from the back on the edge of the 18-yard box.
“But there’s no point in trying to figure out why it came about. It did come about.
“They did all the different tests and spent a bit of time on elimination. They were looking in depth at what my issue was, then it came to the fore that it was Parkinson’s – which was a bit unfortunate, to say the least.
“I was diagnosed about eight years ago but I knew I had the symptoms before that. My balance wasn’t as good.
“I used to be a good passer of a ball. My passing wasn’t so good, so I said ‘there’s something not quite right here’.
“Everyone has got a different type of Parkinson’s. With mine, unfortunately, the mobility is not as good as it once was but the cognitive side is still strong, so that is all I can ask for.
“You would like to do things but you find you don’t have the strength. You’re risk-assessed, everything you need to do.
“I’m at the care home now, so I’ve got the best of what I can possibly get at Seaview. The staff are fantastic, it’s like a home from home.”
Walking any distance can be painful, Peter says. “It doesn’t do me any good – it makes matters worse.
“The unfortunate thing is it’s a double whammy. I can’t do much exercise because the aches and pains come in, whereas the normal routine would be you’ll feel better for it.
“But with this type that I’ve got, there’s no respite. I don’t get relief from walking – in fact it’s a bit more difficult due to the reaction that I have.
“I’ve been used as a test dummy but unfortunately we didn’t find a cure. It’s just medication – trying different types of tablets, different types of medicine, lengthier periods, shorter periods, how they work together.
“They tried one after the other, after the other, after the other, and decided they were getting nowhere. They just said there’s nothing they can do, so that’s a bit of a hard sell.”
Peter talks about some of his football memories, and about living with Parkinson’s, in a new recording for Wick Voices, the Wick Society’s online oral history project.
He recalls playing for Pulteneytown Academy in inter-school matches; taking part in jumpers-for-goalposts kickabouts in the park behind his house in Seaforth Avenue; and being part of East End Boys’ Club. As he puts it: “You never didn’t have a football at hand.”
Peter tried being a goalkeeper but soon went off that idea. “They always blamed the goalkeeper,” he explained. “I was in football for fun, and I wasn’t having much fun when they were all blaming me for mistakes!”
In amateur football he turned out for Keiss, Wick Rovers and Wick Groats, and had 15 years with Academy. For most of that time Academy were in the North Caledonian League but Peter played in their first season as a Highland League club, in 1994/95.
Aged 34, he hung up his boots to concentrate on coaching. He studied at Moray College and the national sports training centre at Largs, gaining his UEFA B licence and SFA youth licence.
The sessions at Largs presented a “stern challenge” as Peter found himself working alongside former top-flight professionals.
“I believed I had enough within my ability as a coach to do well,” he said. “When I achieved that award [the B licence] I was over the moon. It was worth all the hardships to come back and pass that education and knowledge on.”
Initially he spent five years as a part-time youth coach at Ross County, travelling from Wick to Dingwall twice a week.
“In coaching you become a tutor, you become a teacher, you become a friend,” Peter said. “There are so many different attributes and life skills you can learn from being involved in football.
“I wanted to give something back to football because it gave me a lot… I’m a placid guy, but you need a release valve and that used to be football. I had 15 seasons with Wick and it was a great journey.”
Peter, whose day job took him to Dounreay, Osprey Electronics and JGC at different times, had two stints as Academy manager – from 1998 to 2000 and then in 2006/07. He cut short his second spell in the Harmsworth Park dugout to take up an SFA role as football development officer, based at the Highland Football Academy in Dingwall, funded by the SFA, SportScotland, Highland Council, Orkney Islands Council and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
His task was to drive forward the National Plan for Youth Football in Highland, Orkney and the Western Isles. That post ran for seven years and Peter then returned to youth coaching at Ross County.
In the recording he highlights two Caithness players he encountered who went on to become professional footballers.
Shane Sutherland was quickly picked up by Inverness Caledonian Thistle and also played for Elgin City and Peterhead. “He was a guy that you didn’t need to coach,” Peter said. “He was a guy who learned as he played.”
Gary Mackay-Steven moved from Ross County to Liverpool, where injuries disrupted his progress. He went on to play for Airdrie, Dundee United, Celtic, Aberdeen, New York City, Hearts and Kilmarnock and won two caps for Scotland.
“Ross County was a vehicle for him to play against the best players in Scotland in his age group,” Peter said.
“He broke his leg twice in the same place, one year after the other. That would have decimated any young player but he came bouncing back to prove that he still had the ability to do well against the best teams.
“He was a superb player with some great attributes to his game. He never missed a session – he just wanted to learn and he enjoyed the game so much, even with all the travelling.
“He always had a smile on his face, whatever you threw at him. The guy was an exceptional talent and the rest is history – he has done ever so well.
“He’s in the twilight of his career now but he’s had a good run, that’s for sure.”
Peter still takes a keen interest in Wick Academy and was able to watch a recent home match against Inverurie Locos, escorted by his former team-mate Richard “Tichie” Hughes, also a former manager.
The Scorries dropped into the bottom four in the Highland League after losing that game 2-1.
Peter hopes that manager Gary Manson – one of his former players – can oversee an improvement in the second half of the campaign.
“I know what Gary is going through,” Peter said. “You’re asking players to play the way you want them to play but unfortunately sometimes it doesn’t go that way.
“He knows the game really well, he’s been there at the club for so long, he’s a stalwart, so I just feel for him at the moment.
“At the end of last season there was a good run, they were undefeated for a number of games. Then this year they started off with a great win against Fraserburgh at home. Unfortunately since then they’ve been spiralling down a wee bit.
“It’s difficult times for Gary. He needs the support of the players to make it happen.”
In the meantime, Peter is facing up to the daily challenges of living with Parkinson’s.
“If you’re standing trying to speak to someone, you have to move or you feel your balance going,” he said. “But it is what it is, and we’ll just soldier on as we’ve always done and see where it takes us.
“At the moment I’m very fortunate being here [at Seaview House], where I’m very well looked after.
“It’s quite a well-known disease now and everyone has got different levels. Even if we could keep it at the same level now, it would be beneficial.
“It’s another challenge in life. I am 63, I’ve had a not bad innings, so I can’t complain too much.
“People I’ve met over the years playing football, not only from Wick but from teams I’ve played against, have been on the phone asking how I’m doing. It’s nice to hear the guys on the phone, and they visit as well, so that’s lovely.”
Around 153,000 people live with Parkinson’s in the UK. It is the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world. Parkinson’s UK is the largest charitable funder of Parkinson’s research in Europe. Meetings of the Parkinson’s UK Caithness Support Group take place on the first Tuesday of the month and alternate between the Norseman Hotel in Wick and the Pentland Hotel in Thurso, from 2pm to 4pm.
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