Former Portsmouth, Stoke, Leeds and Bradford favourite Chris Kamara makes 'fraud' admission as he continues apraxia of speech battle

The ex-Fratton Park favourite, better known these days for his punditry on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday and as a co-host of ITV's Ninja Warrior UK, was diagnosed with the condition in March.

It’s a disorder which gives him trouble talking, as a person with AOS knows what they'd like to say, but has difficulty getting their lips, jaw or tongue to move in the proper way to say it.

This has been evident in recent times as the 64-year-old self-proclaimed ‘motormouth’ carries on with his broadcasting duties, although he stepped down from Sky Sports at the end of last season.

But nearly five months on from his diagnosis, Kammy admitted it feels like he’s cheating viewers and listeners of his latest venture – the BBC's Proper Football podcast with former Goals on Sunday co-host Ben Shephard.

And that’s something he’s struggling to accept.

Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, he said: ‘I feel a fraud now in terms of broadcasting - I don’t bring to the table what I used to.

‘I feel I’m doing these programmes and they’re not getting the best of me - they’re tolerating me, that’s how it feels. You take your old self for granted.’

He continued: ‘It feels like someone has taken over my voice box.

‘The voice that used to come out would come out at 300 miles an hour on Soccer Saturday, motormouth, talking and not even waiting for a breath, just keep going and going.

‘Now when I hear myself or see myself on TV it’s someone else. It’s really strange.

‘Some days the message from the brain to the mouth is really slow and makes it difficult, or some days the words come out different than what you’re trying to say - and that’s even weirder.

‘That’s been hard to accept - and is still hard to accept.’

Kammy made public his diagnosis earlier this year after fans reached out to him following an appearance on Soccer Saturday.

He was fulfilling his normal brief as one of Soccer Saturday’s match-day correspondents as he reported back from Rotherham’s League One home game against Shrewsbury from the New York Stadium.

But concerns were raised by Kammy’s speech, which was notably slower than the usual energetic way he delivers his enthusiastic updates of the action.

The popular former Royal Navy man was inundated with thousands of messages of support following his announcement.

Many of those whom he worked with at Sky Sports were among those to reach out to him then and when he left the station.

And Kammy wonders whether he should have bowed out of broadcasting when he decided to leave the channel.

He added: ‘That tribute that Sky gave me, that’s reserved for someone who passes away isn’t it?

‘So I’ve had the tribute while I’m still alive that people don’t get when they go.

‘You’ll always look back and think, when you read the obituaries and comments and think, “why didn’t people say that?”

‘So I think maybe I should have bowed out then, taken the accolades and said, “thank you. Am I tarnishing what I’ve got and what I had?”

Kamara started his playing career at Fratton Park, making 84 appearances and scoring 10 goals between 1974 and 1977 and later in 1981.