Ex-England and Arsenal forward Jay Bothroyd details health battle he hid for whole career

Jay Bothroyd enjoyed a varied career after that saw him represent the England national team and has now opened up on a secret that he kept under wraps from the public

Former Wolves and Cardiff forward Jay Bothroyd has revealed some of the risks he took during his career while hiding epilepsy and wishes he had been open about his condition.

Bothroyd made a solitary England appearance in 2010, but concealed the fact he had seizures for the majority of his two decades in the game. The ex-Arsenal trainee also believes there are other players who are suffering from the condition but are keeping it secret.

During a wide-ranging interview with the Mail on Sunday, the 41-year-old disclosed an incident where he blacked out while driving and crashed his car in Elstree before he ended up in a prison cell “covered in all this blood” after he had another episode where he banged his head against a wall.

“I wish I’d have spoken about epilepsy earlier but I didn’t because I felt that they might give me a short-term contract or pay-as-you-play,” Bothroyd said. "I never denied it, I just didn’t talk about it.

“I had to earn a living. I wanted security for myself and my family. There’s probably more footballers out there that have the same condition who won’t say anything.

“Epilepsy affected my performance. There were loads of times I had bad games because of it, when I wasn’t fully focused or I had in the back of my mind a worry like, ‘s***I haven’t taken my tablets.’

“I once had a seizure and played two days later – because I said I wanted to. They said to me, ‘do you think you’re all right to play?’ and I said, ‘yeah’. They didn’t make me play, but they didn’t say ‘you shouldn’t play’. I scored in that game!

“It’s about results. Back then I couldn’t say, ‘sorry I can’t come in, I’ve had a seizure,’ because I think people would have looked at it like a sign of weakness.”

Bothroyd’s condition became clear to his teammates during his time with Welsh side Cardiff City. During a training camp in Portugal, he blacked out on top of a car that had been baking in the sun all day.

The black paint of the vehicle had seen its temperature sky-rocket, causing third-degree burns to Bothroyd’s skin. He reveals that the wounds were healing for months, while there were times that he should have undergone a skin graft but instead continued playing.

Following his stint with Cardiff, the forward moved to Queens Park Rangers and then joined Sheffield Wednesday on-loan. Bothroyd then moved abroad by joining Thai side Muangthong United ahead of moves to Jubilo Iwata and Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo of Japan. He hung up his boots in 2021.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.