Sacked Chelsea Fan Insists He Called Raheem Sterling A 'Manc C***'

A Chelsea fan who claims he's lost his job has denied racially abusing Raheem Sterling during Manchester City's visit to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

The Daily Mail has named the fan accused of calling the England player a 'black c***' as 60-year-old Colin Wing.

Mr Wing was one of a group of fans seen hurling abuse at Sterling from close proximity as he collected the ball from the side of the pitch.

The fan, from Beckenham, claims he has since lost his job and has apologised for his behaviour, but denied using racist language.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: "I'm deeply ashamed by my own behaviour and I feel really bad. But I didn't call him a black c***, I called him a Manc c***.

"I've been going to Chelsea for 50 years now and, because of where I sit, I'm picked up on the camera most weeks. If I had a history of saying this sort of thing I would've been caught by now.

"Nobody around me said they heard anything. I want to apologise unreservedly to Raheem and hope he can be a better man than I am by accepting it.

PA

"I offer him an unreserved apology. Even if it wasn't racist, it's not right what I said. Even the swearing is bad - but I got carried away.

"I was completely out of order, but I've lost my job and my season ticket now so everybody's got what they wanted. So why can't they leave me alone?"

Mr Wing claims he was spoken to by police twice on Saturday but was not charged. No arrests have been made as of yet but enquiries are ongoing.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are conducting their own investigation using the footage and lip-readers. Mr Wing and three other men have so far been suspended from home matches.

A Chelsea spokesman said: "Our investigations into this matter are ongoing. We are fully supporting the police investigation and any information we gather will be passed on to them.

"If there is evidence of ticket holders taking part in any racist behaviour, the club will issue severe sanctions, including bans.

"We will also fully support any criminal prosecutions."

Sterling shared a post on Instagram on Sunday, blaming newspapers for helping to 'fuel racism'.

A section of the post read: "For all the newspapers that don't understand why people are racist in this day and age, all I have to say is have a second thought about fair publicity and give all players an equal chance."

Recalling his experience as England coach at the Euros in 2016 on Monday Night Football, Gary Neville said Sterling had received unfair treatment from the media.

He said: "The abuse he received, particularly in the media beyond that tournament, I've not seen it before.

"He was getting absolutely battered going into that tournament, so much stick."

Topics: UK News

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey