Gabby Agbonlahor opens up on vile racist abuse he received while on talkSPORT

Gabby Agbonlahor was sent vile racist messages whilst live on talkSPORT, the former England international has revealed.

The Aston Villa legend was subjected to racial abuse on social media during Monday’s Breakfast show.

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Agbonlahor, who joined Jeff Stelling in the studio, revealed the abhorrent comment had been left on an Instagram post.

It came after he had shared a post alongside the Acorns Children’s Hospice, who he works with as an ambassador.

Agbonlahor opens up on abuse

Speaking live on air, Agbonlahor called for social media companies to do more to tackle the growing issue.

He explained: “I’ve literally just opened my social media, Instagram, and I’ve got a post on there with Acorns Children’s Hospice, I’ve become an ambassador for the charity.

“Literally just seconds ago, someone has put a comment on there saying, ‘All I can see’, and then monkey, ape emojis next to it.

“These social media companies have to do something about it. It’s that easy just to do that on someone’s social media.

“I can take any name you want to call me, you know what I mean? But doing things like that and it’s just ‘yes, no problem,’ nothing’s going to be done about it.

“I think the players that are playing now, they must go through that all the time. I’ve seen some in recent weeks, (Antoine) Semenyo, (Marc) Guehi after he made a mistake. So there needs to be something done.”

Stelling responded by condemning the vulgar abuse aimed at Agbonlahor.

He added: “Gabby, it’s despicable and completely unacceptable, but talking to the social media companies about doing something about it is like banging your head against a wall.”

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Agbonlahor won three caps for England during his playing career.

The Villa academy graduate scored 86 goals in 391 appearances for his boyhood club before retiring in 2018.

He also spent time on loan at Watford and Sheffield Wednesday during his early career.

Shocking racist abuse

The incident comes just days after a fan was arrested during Everton’s draw with Manchester City for alleged racist abuse towards Antoine Semenyo.

His City team-mate Marc Guehi was also abused on social media following last week’s 3-3 draw.

Unfortunately, the pair have not been the only Premier League players forced to deal with shocking racial abuse this season.

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Wolves publicly posted the horrific abuse aimed at striker Tolu Arokodare in February.

It came after the Nigerian international had missed a penalty in their defeat to Crystal Palace.

Meanwhile, Kevin Danso was also targeted online just last month following Tottenham Hotspur’s draw with Brighton.