Luton Town have again condemned racist abuse aimed at their players and staff after a man was given a four-year ban from attending matches.
Connor Butler, from Pallion, Tyne and Wear, sent an Instagram message to Elijah Adebayo in October 2024 after the striker scored in a game against Sunderland.
Butler, 20, pleaded guilty to a charge of sending a communication of an indecent or offensive nature in December and was fined £200 by magistrates – but returned to court last week when he received the ban.
A spokesperson for the club said: "We have become accustomed to our players and staff receiving abuse online in recent years.
"Sadly, many have become tired of reporting it, but Elijah has received some form of racial abuse in each of the five years he has been a Luton Town player and has always felt strongly enough to make statements to the police.
"This one thankfully has resulted in a prosecution and punishment that we hope acts as a deterrent to anyone thinking they can send abuse in a direct message, or on any form of social media, and get away with it.
"We stand with Elijah and all victims of discrimination, and will continue to fight for any of our Luton Town family who suffers at the fingertips of these keyboard criminals."
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Adebayo joined Luton from Walsall in 2021 and has played 182 games for the club – although none so far this season due to a serious knee injury – and scored 47 goals.
He was a member of the team which won promotion to the Premier League in 2023 and played 27 top-flight games the following season.
During his time at Kenilworth Road, though, Adebayo has been repeatedly targeted, with Luton revealing in October 2022 they had reported abuse to the police three times in less than a year.
In October 2023, he was again on the receiving end following a Premier League defeat by Tottenham Hotspur, with the club describing the abuse as "vile and cowardly".
Following last week's court hearing, Ch Supt Mark Hall of Northumbria Police commended Adebayo for lodging a complaint against Butler, who cannot attend any professional or semi-professional game in England and Wales and must not travel abroad for international matches while the ban is in place.
"Racist and hateful speech has absolutely no place in our communities or online, and we know this kind of behaviour isn't representative of the overwhelming majority of football fans," said Ch Supt Hall.
"I hope this reinforces our commitment to taking action against anybody who commits this type of crime – it will not be tolerated and we will do all we can to put perpetrators before the courts."
