FOOTBALLER Andrew Omobamidele has revealed the racist abuse he faced on the pitch while playing as a youth in Ireland.
The Republic of Ireland international has been a defender for Nottingham Forest FC since 2023, after a signing a five-year contract with the Premier League side.
As a youth he played in the Dublin District Schoolboys League alongside fellow future Irish international, Southampton FC’s Gavin Bazunu.
This week Omobamidele revealed the racist abuse he had to deal with while playing in his homeland as he and his Nottingham Forest teammates spoke out in support of Hate Crime Awareness Week.
“One of the challenges that stands out for me was when I was younger, playing in the league back home in Ireland,” said Omobamidele.
“There was a game, I remember, I think I was taking a throw in, and I heard some discriminatory remarks, so I spoke to the referee about it,” he explained.
“When I went home that night, I was a bit angry, a bit upset, and I just spoke about it with my mum.
“It's important to have that support system just to speak about it,” he added.
"People could say just ignore it, but when you see it targeted at you, it's difficult to ignore, but I do think it comes back to that inner confidence and support system."
Andrew Omobamidele (left) and Morgan Gibbs-White are among the Reds players who are supporting the campaignSending a message to all footballers out there today, he said “being physically or verbally abusive is not okay – inside a stadium or out in the community”.
Teammates Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Elanga and Naomi Bedeau joined the defender in condemning abuse and urging people to report hate offences.
The Reds stars each shared some of the challenges they’ve faced in their careers as part of a joint campaign with the police for Black History Month.
In 2022 Nottingham Forest, Notts County and Mansfield Town football clubs all signed an agreement to work in partnership with the police to deal with any hate that occurs at football matches.
This joint approach led to 32 hate crime incidents being reported at matches involving the clubs last season, with various action being taken, including three people receiving football banning orders.
Chief Inspector Craig Berry, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “We’re really grateful to Nottingham Forest and their players for showing their support for our Take Aim At Hate campaign.
“We’re committed to doing everything in our power to try to eradicate hate, so getting this backing from people well-known to our communities and whose words carry so much weight is really impactful.
“Hearing them talk about how their experiences of receiving abuse made them feel was very powerful,” he added.
“It's so important that anyone who is subjected to a hate crime offence, sees it, or overhears it, reports it to someone, preferably the police.
“As pointed out by the players involved in this campaign, there are numerous ways of doing that, whether that’s letting us know over the phone or online, while we’d encourage people to tell a steward should they hear anything at a match too.
“Each of our county’s three professional football teams have worked closely with us to try and eradicate hate from our communities, and we appreciate their ongoing support.”
National Hate Crime Awareness Week started on October 12 and runs until October 19.
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