Back Onside have slammed the alleged abuse of Albion Rovers striker David Cox after the mental health charity’s patron quit the game on Thursday night.
The 32-year-old walked out at half-time of his side’s game against Stenhousemuir and claimed a sickening slur was aimed in his direction amid his battle with mental health.
He alleged opposition player Jonathan Tiffoney mocked him over his attempted suicide after bravely going public with his battle with depression.
There has been huge support for Cox and Back Onside released a statement condemning the incident.
In a weekend where football clubs throughout Britain will boycott social media platforms in a fight against racist abuse online, the charity, alongside a photo of Cox, wrote: “This weekend football quite rightly stands together against the abuse that is directed at players, clubs and officials.
“However, a player who suffers with mental health has been subjected to personal abuse from another professional in the SPFL and we are shocked and disgusted.
“The player concerned is our patron, David Cox, of Albion Rovers and he was told he ‘should have done it right the first time’.
“Without any shadow of doubt, this is totally unacceptable. Doubtless it will be said that it was just banter but telling somebody who has attempted to take their own life they should have done it right the first time is not banter.
“The Back Onside team are fully behind David who is understandably very angry and upset at what has been said.
“This isn’t the first time David has suffered this sort of abuse and it is 100 per cent unacceptable and something needs to be done.
“This is exactly the reason why players don’t want to reach out and talk about their mental health as when they do it’s used against them and not just by fans.”
