Sheffield United goalkeeper Dean Henderson has called on The FA to take action against trolls, after suffering 'horrendous' abuse last season.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper, on loan from Manchester United, was targeted during huge games against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough and Leeds United at Elland Road.
He is not aware of anyone being punished for the hurtful chants directed his way and believes the FA would have acted if the abuse was racist.
As such, he believes that further action needs to be taken to protect players from a wide range of abuse when they are representing their clubs.
“Certainly last year at Hillsborough and Elland Road, it wasn’t a pleasant time for me or my family because a lot of the accusations were completely horrendous,” he said.
“If it was racism, people would be getting banned from stadiums. For me, coming from a good family, it’s the worse thing you can ever be called.
“I’d go back to my apartment and think how has this happened to me? Only my girlfriend knew how much it really affected me.”
Henderson says he required support from his girlfriend and family, adding that it felt extra sweet to beat Leeds last season at Elland Road.
“We stuck with it, as a family. So to go there to Elland Road and beat them, after what they were saying about me, that meant the world to me.
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. For me, as a young lad, nobody speaks about having to take that negativity. For a lad of 22, people don’t realise what I went through last season.”
