Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Obituary: Former footballer Mike Sutton dies aged 76 after dementia diagnosis

Chris Sutton (left) with father Mike Sutton.
Chris Sutton (left) with father Mike.

One of an estimated 500 former football professionals to be diagnosed with dementia, Mike Sutton has died aged 76.

During a decade-long sporting career, he made more than 250 appearances for Norwich, Chester and Carlisle United in the 1960s and 70s.

After hanging up his boots, he became a PE teacher then returned to the field with Great Yarmouth Town. He was also involved in his local cricket club.

His son Chris, a football pundit and former Celtic and Norwich player, paid tribute via social media on Sunday.

He tweeted: “My dad Mike sadly passed away yesterday.

“He was a great sportsman, teacher, husband, dad and grandad. He was my hero and I will miss him so much.”

Sutton began his playing career in his home city of Norwich, making his first professional appearance in 1962.

After more than 50 appearances in five years, he transferred to Chester where he played in 138 matches.

He moved to Carlisle in 1970 but retired two years later due to a knee injury.

Sutton then retrained in physical education and biology to become a high school teacher.

Later, he returned to the pitch for a spell at Great Yarmouth Town and as a youth coach at Norwich.

Sutton was diagnosed with dementia in 2010, a year after he retired, when family members began to notice changes in his behaviour.

In recent years he required round-the-clock care, and his son Chris has been a prominent voice in the fight to get former players better support.

Campaigners have been calling for further research into links between heading a football and developing brain conditions such as dementia, as well as restrictions on how often it can be performed during training.

Chris Sutton previously told The Daily Mail: “It wipes you out as a person and leaves a blank page.

“My dad and countless others have been let down.”

Tributes to Mike Sutton from across the sporting world were shared online following his death on Boxing Day.

Pundits Simon Thomas, Eilidh Barbour and Gary Lineker were among those sharing their condolences.

Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand said: “Sorry to hear this Chris. Continue raising the awareness.”

And Football Focus host Dan Walker wrote: “Really sorry to hear about your dad Chris.

“I know you have been valiantly fighting his corner for a long time.”

Carlisle United chairman Andrew Jenkins said: “Mike was a quiet, humble and extremely likeable man who did his job in an efficient and professional manner.

“He really looked after himself and he had a very forward looking attitude.

“In fact, he was one of the first to insist on a vegetarian style pre-match meal when the other lads would be having the traditional choice of a steak.

“He was respected by his fellow professionals for his approach and was a man others would look to for advice, and it was no surprise when he went into teaching and lecturing as his second career.”