Almost a third of footballers impacted by online abuse, survey finds

Data shared exclusively with ITV News reveals the impact online abuse is having on professional footballers, as ITV News Sports Editor Steve Scott reports

Words by ITV News Senior Sports Producer Joe Wardropper

Almost a third of footballers say their mental health has been impacted by online abuse, according to the results of a Professional Footballers Association (PFA) survey shared exclusively with ITV News.

The anonymous questionnaire, answered by almost 1,600 players from 60 clubs across the Premier League, the English Football League (EFL) and the Women’s Super League (WSL), found that more than 450 footballers were psychologically impacted by abusive content online last season.

Blackpool winger CJ Hamilton, who was racially abused on social media last month, told ITV News: “It doesn’t surprise me then that people are getting affected by it.”

The 30-year-old had scored both his team’s goals during a home match against Luton Town and was texting his mother after the game, when he checked his social media account and discovered he had been sent two racist emojis, one posted as a comment and the other sent in a private message.

‘‘It’s something that plays on your mind because it’s a mental thing you think is going to happen every weekend – like when you do well, or whatever, it’s always in the back of your mind,” Hamilton added.

“I’ve got a little boy now – obviously, he’s of the same origins as me,” he added.

‘‘I don’t want him to come [into] a world where he gets it down the line…it’s a bit sickening. So it is hard, but it’s one of the things in life that we’re trying to clamp down on at the moment.’’

The PFA is the footballers’ union, and represents more than 5,800 players in the top flight of the men’s and women’s game, as well as the EFL and academies.

The proportion of footballers surveyed who said online abuse impacted their mental health rose slightly this year on last season.

But the overall number of players who were affected increased significantly, with hundreds more PFA members participating in the survey.

Donervon Daniels, who plays for Oldham FC and sits on the PFA’s player board, said the survey revealed the “huge” number of players impacted by online abuse. He urged his fellow professionals to seek support if they were targeted online.

“Most of the time, I think the players just want to leave it alone,” he said. “They don’t want to be abused and they don’t want to make a fuss about it.”

Daniels said that the idea that footballers were less affected by negative comments because they were highly paid professionals “shouldn’t enter the conversation”.

“I think that perspective that you are doing something you love, or you are earning a perceived amount of money, that you are immune to the negative impacts of a stranger telling you you are bad at your job or racially abusing you, that perspective is a non-starter.”

Former England goalkeeper David James told ITV News that the scale of online abuse was “a very unfortunate situation” but that sport could not be expected to fix a societal problem.

“Unfortunately, I think there will always be people out there to make sure the person is being abused, it’s a sad fact of life,” he added at a Premier League launch event before the start of the 2024-2025 season.

“I think for the individuals involved who are getting that abuse, I can’t condone any of it.

“But it’s how the individuals are seeing or being exposed to that abuse, whether there are better ways to protect the individual, whether it’s a personal thing or an agent thing as opposed to expecting ‘football’ to change a platform which is used by pretty much everyone in the world and the people who host those platforms are unable to control it themselves.”

James added: “There is no law that says you have to be on social media, there is no ruling once you’re on social media, you have to read the comments. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be entitled to do this without being abused, because I think they should.”

The scale and seriousness of the problem of online abuse in football was highlighted this summer when England defender Jess Carter revealed she was targeted with ‘‘violently aggressive racism’’ during Euro 2025. Three men have been arrested by police investigating the abuse directed at Carter.

Speaking to ITV News, the 27-year-old defender said she was scared to play in the final of the tournament and was relieved when her white teammates missed penalties because it would prevent Lauren James, a fellow black player, from facing “astronomical” racism.

The Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told ITV News that Carter’s experience “has to be the moment that acts as a catalyst for change”.

The PFA survey also revealed that injury remained the issue that most affected player well-being, with 64% of players highlighting this as a concern.

Pressure to perform also remained a widespread issue, with 46% of players revealing it played on their minds.

Meanwhile, more than 41% of players worried about relationships and 32% about their families, while 32% reported experiencing low mood, irritability, or anger.