Jeffrey Astle (13 May 1942 – 19 January 2002) was an English professional footballer who played the majority of his career as a centre-forward for West Bromwich Albion.

Following Astle's death in 2002, a campaign was launched to have the bridge officially named in his honour, but this has so far been rejected over fears of vandal attacks by supporters of rival teams, as the area also has many Wolverhampton Wanderers fans.

In subsequent years his fitness deteriorated through repeated injuries, and in 1974 he left Albion to join the South African club Hellenic.

[8] On the day after his death, West Bromwich Albion held a minute's silence in honour of Astle, before their home match against Black Country rivals Walsall.

Albion striker Jason Roberts scored the only goal of the game and celebrated by removing his jersey to reveal a T-shirt bearing Astle's image.

[14][15] In 2004, he was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's sixteen greatest players in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations.

"[18] Albion's rivals Aston Villa and Birmingham City also showed a picture of Astle on their screens when West Brom played there that season.

This day also marked the launch of the Jeff Astle Foundation, an organisation dedicated to raising awareness of brain injury in all sports and to helping those afflicted.

It said the authorities risked legal action because of a "scandalous" failure to research dementia amongst former players, due to a combination of repeated heading of the ball and from collisions that might have occurred during a game.

The newspaper also criticised the non-appearance of a risk study following Astle's death and launched a campaign to investigate football related brain injuries.

"[21] In November 2017, a BBC documentary on the subject presented by former England striker Alan Shearer included an interview with Astle's daughter, where she spoke of the deterioration in her father's condition.