A man has been handed a four-year ban from all stadiums in England or Wales after sending a disgusting message to a player.
It's a unfortunate fact that for some football fans, a passion in supporting your team gives you the right to hurl all kinds of disgusting abuse towards players and match officials.
This issue has only increased as the internet has become more and more popular, giving fans the protection of an anonymous to hide behind when sounding off online.
Thankfully, a wave of measures has been introduced in recent years to deal with this exact issue, brining in various methods of identifying exactly who is behind abusive messages online and deal with them appropriately.
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This is exactly what happened to Sunderland fan Connor Butler, 20, who has been given a four-year ban for a racist message sent to Luton Town star Elijah Adebayo in 2024.
The incident took place after the forward scored an equalising goal in the 63rd minute at of Sunderland's match against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on October 23.
Butler, who was watching the match from home, sent the message to the Luton striker and was later identified following joint investigations by Cheshire Constabulary and Northumbria Police.
Through their investigation, the forces were able to tie Butler to the anonymous Instagram handle used to send the racist message and further online searches revealed other social media profiles in his name based in the Sunderland area.
Butler was then arrested at his home in February 2025 charged with one count of sending communication of an indecent or offensive nature.
He then appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court on December 10, 2025, pleading guilty and subsequently fined £200 and ordered to pay court costs.
Two months later, in February this year, Butler returned to court and was handed a four-year football banning order, stopping Butler from attending any regulated matches in a professional or semi-professional league in England and Wales until February 1, 2030.
Butler is also banned from attending any international friendlies, qualification matches and tournaments abroad.
Speaking after the case closed, chief Superintendent Mark Hall, football lead for Northumbria Police, said: "Racist and hateful speech has absolutely no place in our communities or online, and we know this kind of behaviour isn't representative of the overwhelming majority of football fans.
"We'd like to commend the victim in this case for coming forward to police, and I am grateful for the restrictions which are now stringently placed on Butler."
Meanwhile Luton Town added they had grown used to "players and staff receiving abuse online in recent years."
They wrote: "Sadly, many have become tired of reporting it, but Elijah has received some form of racial abuse in each of the five years he has been a Luton Town player and has always felt strongly enough to make statements to the police.
"This one thankfully has resulted in a prosecution and punishment that we hope acts as a deterrent to anyone thinking they can send abuse in a direct message, or on any form of social media, and get away with it.
"We stand with Elijah and all victims of discrimination, and will continue to fight for any of our Luton Town family who suffers at the fingertips of these keyboard criminals."
Topics: Football, Racism, Luton Town, Sunderland
Ben McCrum