Who is Aidy Boothroyd’s wife Emma and how many children does he share with her?

AIDY BOOTHROYD kept his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in November 2021 private, but has now shared the sad news as he found it ‘difficult not being completely open with people’.

Here we get to know the former Premier League and England Under-21s manager‘s wife, who suggested he go for the health check that uncovered the illness.

Fc Jamshedpur

Aidy Boothroyd pictured with his wife Emma at Samvaad — a tribal Indian event — in 2022[/caption]

On March 26, 2025, Aidy Boothroyd, 54, released an emotional statement and video revealing he has quietly been battling Parkinson’s disease for over three years.

The statement issued through the League Managers Association reads: “Three years ago, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

“The news came as a massive shock to me, following what I expected to be my routine LMA Annual Health Assessment.

“It has taken me time to feel ready to share my diagnosis, and I have found it difficult not being completely open with people.

“Personally, my passion and love for coaching is as strong as ever, I am focusing on keeping physically fit, which is key to slowing down the progression of Parkinson’s.

“I am ready to start the next chapter in my life. I would like to thank the LMA and Parkinson’s UK for their support.”

Who is Aidy Boothroyd’s wife Emma?

Aidy’s wife’s name is Emma, but she prefers to keep her information private, so very little is known about her.

The manager – who had spells with Watford, Colchester United, Coventry City and Northampton Town – credited her for encouraging him to go for the health check where his Parkinson’s disease was diagnosed in the statement he released.

Aidy said: “I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in November 2021.

“We’d come off a bit of a sticky patch in the European Championships in the under 21s… So, unfortunately, we went out of the tournament.

“I took a little bit of stick, which is always right with England. That’s the way it is, and you accept that.

“Emma, my wife said, you know, it could be a good time for you to do your your fit to manage health check, which I do on a regular basis — it’s a brilliant service.

“So I went to see doctor Sally up in Wilmslow, and got checked over, everything was well.

“She just wanted to check a couple of extra things and that was it, I didn’t think anything about it.

“I then spoke to a neurologist who said ‘Come in and see me’, you know.

“I was expecting to get a clean bill of health. I thought everything was fine. And then came the bombshell.”

He continued: “We went to meet the neurologist in a different part. We weren’t in a hospital. It was, I remember it well, it was raining, pouring.

It was an awful day. And the the guy said to me, ‘This is a picture of a normal brain, and this is the picture of your brain.

“You can see the difference. You’ve got Parkinson’s. I’m very sorry.

“So I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t really know what Parkinson’s was.”

How many kids do Aidy and Emma Boothroyd have?

Aidy prefers to keep his family out of the public spotlight, so very little about his kids has been reported.

But he did mention them when revealing his diagnosis.

Aidy said: “I was in a position where, you know, I just kept thinking about my kids.

“I just wasn’t sure what was next. I was shocked. I was dumbstruck really.

“I’ve kept very quiet about it. I wasn’t ready to to share with too many people. [There were] just a handful of people that knew.

“But what I needed was to get back out there again.

“And I was fortunate that I got a call from Sheffield United to go and work and mentor two of their former players just starting their coaching careers.

“And I loved it there, it’s a brilliant club, a lot of history.”