WALES — Former Wales manager John Toshack has been diagnosed with dementia, his son said. The 77-year-old managed the Wales national football team in 1994 and again from 2004 to 2010.

Cameron Toshack, a football coach and former Leeds United assistant who is now coaching in Thailand, described his father's condition. "He has good days and bad days," he said. "It's a terrible disease."

"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," Cameron Toshack said.

Despite the diagnosis, Cameron Toshack still regularly receives coaching tips from his father. "I'll talk to him about what we're doing in Thailand and he still gives great advice," Cameron said. "As a manager, he could always see two or three moves ahead, and it was always in the genes for me, really."

John Toshack spent two weeks on a ventilator in a Barcelona hospital after contracting Covid-19 and pneumonia. "When I think back on it now, it's frightening," Toshack said about that experience.

Toshack began his playing career with Cardiff City before joining Liverpool in 1970. He formed a strike partnership with Kevin Keegan at Liverpool. During his eight-year spell with Liverpool, he won three league titles, two UEFA Cups, one FA Cup, one European Cup, one Charity Shield and one UEFA Super Cup.

He scored 13 goals in 40 appearances for the Wales national football team. After his playing career, he joined Swansea City as player-manager in 1978 and led the club from the Fourth Division to the First Division with successive promotions. He won three Welsh Cup titles with Swansea City.

As a manager, he led clubs including Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Besiktas. He won trophies in five of the eight countries where he has managed. His most recent managerial role was with Tractor in Azerbaijan in 2018. During his second stint as Wales manager, he was involved in the development of Welsh players Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen.