Dean Windass, the former Hull City, Bradford City and Middlesbrough footballer, has been diagnosed with dementia.

The 55-year-old ex-striker was diagnosed last year but shared it publicly on Friday, as campaigners pushed for more help for footballers affected by neurodegenerative diseases.

During the early stages of dementia, people show a very mild cognitive decline, including occasional memory loss and struggles finding words, according to Dementia UK.

Posting on X, Windass said he was okay and joked he “was delighted to find out I had a brain”.

“Just hope other families get the help what they want for the people they have lost,” he added.

He also posted a video on social media of him singing along to Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell, and wrote “just got to keep smiling”.

Former Manchester United star David May shared Windass’s diagnosis – with his permission – during a BBC Breakfast interview earlier in the day, saying the former striker had stage two dementia.

“I actually said, ‘Would you mind if I mentioned it?’ And he went, ‘No. 100% – you mention it. Get it out there’. Not to put Deano under the spotlight, but the issue,” he told Sky News’ sports correspondent Rob Harris.

May, a defender with United’s 1999 treble winning team, also revealed his fears about his long-term health.

“Ask me would I do it again? Football? 100% – because I love football. It’s my life,” he said.

“Would I have done as many headers through training, and continuously heading in training? Maybe not.

“But I have just got to wait and see. It’s a waiting game. Are you going to be the one that’s going to miss it?

“One in three-and-a-half people will get dementia who have become professional footballers.”

He added: ” I’d hate my children to go through that, knowing their dad doesn’t know them, doesn’t recognise them, can’t speak to them. It’s tragic.”

Windass started his career at Hull City, training as part of their youth team before being released and playing for non-league North Ferriby United.

He had several senior spells with Hull, starting in 1991, making his league debut at 22 and becoming a fan favourite until he was sold to Aberdeen in 1995.

After stints with Oxford United, Bradford City, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United, Windass returned to Hull City in 2007, helping keep the club in the Championship.

His most famous moment came as he scored a volley from the edge of the area in the 2008 play-off final against Bristol City, winning Hull promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.

After his retirement in 2009 – barring a brief game-by-game spell at Scarborough United – he became Hull City’s club ambassador in 2015, before being inducted into its hall of fame in 2020.

Earlier on Friday, former England captain David Beckham joined a Football Families for Justice event in Manchester to call for more to be done to support players with dementia.

He told the event that three of his mentors around Manchester United – England World Cup winners Sir Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles, and Class of 92 youth coach Eric Harrison – died from neurodegenerative diseases.

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The campaigners were joined by Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram to call on the government to amend the Football Governance Bill to deal with the “brain disease epidemic” in the sport.