Gary Johnson has told the Daily Mirror he was paid £50,000 by Chelsea to not go public with allegation he was sexually abused by the club's former chief scout, Eddie Heath.

It was reported earlier this week that Chelsea had made a payment to an individual in the last three years following allegations regarding Heath. Johnson has waived his anonymity to say he was the former player in question.

"I think that they were paying me to keep a lid on this," Johnson told the Daily Mirror, which reported that Chelsea had now removed the confidentiality clause in Johnson's settlement made last year.

Johnson, 57, was a member of Chelsea's first team from 1978 to 1981, but joined the club as an 11-year-old in 1970 and claimed he had been groomed from the age of 13 by Heath.

"I felt shame, I felt my childhood had been taken away," Johnson said. "I spent my late teens in turmoil, absolute turmoil."

Heath, who was the club's chief scout from 1968 to 1979, died before the allegations were made.