Emile Heskey: ‘Gone are the times when you just ignore abuse. No. Why should we?’

Emile Heskey says little has changed since he experienced racism as a player: ‘If anything, social media has made abuse worse.’ Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Emile Heskey was about 14 years old when he was chased from Leicester City’s old Filbert Street stadium all the way into town by a man shouting racist abuse. He was a Leicester fan who had no idea he was abusing a player who would go on to help his club win promotion to the Premier League and two League Cups before a move to Liverpool for what, at the time, was the club’s record transfer fee.

“Fast forward three years that same guy would’ve been chanting my name in the stadium,” Heskey says now. “This is our reality.”