Burnley legend Andy Payton diagnosed with early onset dementia

The 57-year-old has made the revelation in an interview with The Observer following a recent brain scan.

Payton, who has been suffering with headaches and loss of memory, decided to get scanned after reading about his former Hull City teammate Dean Windass, who revealed he had been diagnosed with stage two dementia in January.

“I’ve only told close family members,” he told The Observer. “My Mum, my Dad, my daughters, obviously my partner and my place of work.

“Having played for Celtic and Burnley – decent clubs – it’s probably going to be out there at some point.

“I want to raise the awareness for the former players and to help other people. That is why I’m sitting here. I just want to get lads to go and get checked out.”

Payton’s neurologist told him there was no doubt the damage had been caused by playing football.

“I was just experiencing the usual symptoms – forgetfulness, loss of memory, headaches – but I wasn’t expecting to have early onset dementia,” Payton added.

“It’s properly frightening, as you just don’t know what’s coming down the line. What’s going to happen in three, or five years?

“The neurologist who did my scan said there are 68 tracts in the brain and 27 of mine are damaged. He also said my brain had shrunk a little bit.

“That’s half the brain that’s damaged, which explained how I’d been feeling. A brain scan doesn’t lie.”

Payton, who scored 200 goals in over 500 appearances during his 17-year career, currently works as a football coach at Burnley College.