'Control your anger': Nottingham Forest star shares racist abuse suffered playing football at school

Premier League star Morgan Gibbs-White has highlighted the racial abuse he suffered at school and said it's still hard to "control your anger".

The 24-year-old midfielder revealed he was first racially abused while playing football at school.

He said: “They almost make you feel different to other people, just because of the colour of your skin, which is obviously wrong in so many ways because everyone is human and everyone’s blood is red.

“When I first received racial abuse, I was quite immature and didn’t know how to handle it, but as I’ve got older and spoken to more people, that’s helped me massively on how to deal with things in the right way and get support.”

He was speaking as Nottinghamshire Police promoted Black History Month which runs throughout October.

Gibbs-White told how he deals with racists and so-called 'keyboard warriors' who post sick comments online.

He said: “I just believe that you have to think of it as you’re unique and you have to, in some way, represent the culture in a positive way by not reacting in the moment.

“I know when it happens it’s hard to control your anger, but at the end of the day, they’re the ones sat behind a computer screen, and you’re doing something with your life, which I think is a good way to look at it.”

Gibbs-White also told of his pride at being called up to the England squad last month and said he hoped more black players would represent the Three Lions.

He said: “It’s incredible to be able to follow in the footsteps of big names like Cyrille Regis and Viv Anderson.

“I just hope the work can continue and we can keep getting young Black players into the England team and hopefully it progresses.

“You just have to be the best possible version of yourself, day in and day out and try and be a role model and a leader for kids growing up.”

Forest forward and Swedish international Anthony Elanga also told how his mum helped him overcome racist abuse.

He said: “With my parents being from Cameroon, they didn’t have it easy coming to Europe.”

Elanga added: “Growing up – as a person foremost before I was a footballer – my mum always told me to be a good person before being a good footballer.

“If I can make a difference to a young kid growing up to make them a better person for actually becoming something they want to become in life, for me that’s important and I’m really proud to be able to do that.”

Forest defender Andrew Omobamidele admitted racist comments made towards him were “difficult to ignore”.

He said: “I don’t personally look too much into it, but when you see it targeted at you, it is difficult to ignore, but I think it comes back to having that inner confidence and support system.

“The only thing I care about is my manager and my teammates’ opinions, my family members, my mum, but other than that, if it’s not affecting my career in any way, I try my best to pay no mind to it.”