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Shaq Forde calls out abuse sent to him on Instagram; Bristol Rovers and Reading fans fight

Shaq Forde calls out abuse sent to him on Instagram, and a video shows Bristol Rovers and Reading fans taking to fight each other.

A screenshot has been posted by Bristol Rovers’ Shaq Forde, disgusted at the messages he received from Instagram user Oliver Heath (oli_heath22), whose account remains at the time of writing (26 October 6,30pm), but it is displayed as private.

Oliver wrote “You’re a fucking waste of space” with a monkey emoji at the end. Shaq uploaded the screenshot and said “Cheers mate, come see me on Monday at training and we’ll see if you’ll be so brave. @official_brfc great “fans” we have don’t we.

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Reading issued a statement: “Reading Football Club strongly condemns the racist abuse sent to Bristol Rovers player Shaq Forde in the aftermath of Saturday’s Sky Bet League One match between the two clubs.

“The club has a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of discrimination, and we will work alongside Saturday’s visitors to ensure the perpetrator is identified and evidence is provided to the relevant authorities.

“Finally, Reading Football Club would like to pass our support onto Shaq. No individual, whether on or off the pitch, should be subjected to such abuse. We stand by you Shaq.”

Bristol Rovers also wrote: “Bristol Rovers is infuriated by racist abuse directed at Shaq Forde in the aftermath of Saturday’s Sky Bet League One match at Reading.

“Shortly after the match an account on Instagram messaged Shaq, the contents of which contained abusive and racist language.

“Shaq and several other Bristol Rovers players reported the abuse to us and we, in turn, will assist the Police and Meta in their respective investigations.

“We will always, unequivocally, stand side-by-side with any victim of discriminatory abuse. The Club is committed to educating on the damage that any form of abuse has.

“Shaq is not the only Bristol Rovers player to receive racial abuse, with an incident under investigation only last week. Even more sickening is that some of these messages come from individuals claiming to be Bristol Rovers supporters. Each time, the Club has sought to act in the appropriate manner. As we made clear in this statement only a few short weeks ago, We will continue to do so.

“But what is becoming increasingly clear is the same old methods of ‘combating’ racism – the carefully-crafted press releases and saturated social media posts – simply are not working.

“Enough Is Enough.

“We are sick and tired of racist behaviour blighting sport. Our players are sick and tired of vile racist abuse that is thoughtlessly shared in response to performances in their job. Our supporters – our real supporters – are sick and tired of being in any way associated with those ‘fans’ who comfortably send such abhorrent messages.

“We will not tolerate it.

“To the person who sent Shaq this racist message, and to any person who claims to be a Gashead and engages in similarly deplorable behaviour, we simply say this:

“You are not a Bristol Rovers fan.

“You are not welcome at The Memorial Stadium.

“We do not want your support.

“Discrimination in any form will not be accepted at Bristol Rovers and we urge all supporters to join us in unison with this message.

“Enough is Enough.”

It came after in-form Reading picked up their third successive League One victory by edging past 10-man Bristol Rovers 1-0.

Shaq Forde had been sent off for a second yellow card, before Sam Smith then scored to send Reading up to 6th with 22 points from 12 games while Bristol Rovers are 16th.

There was also reportedly fighting taking place between Reading and Bristol Rovers fans at the train station…

Reading: Pereira, Elliott (Savage 74), Craig, Knibbs, Ehibhatiomhan, Smith, Bindon, Mbengue, Camara (Campbell 64), Wing, Garcia.

Subs not used: Button, Wareham, Holzman, Akande, Ahmed

Goals: Smith 66

Booked: Bindon 74

Bristol Rovers: Griffiths, Moore, Wilson, Mola, Sinclair (Bilongo 67), Ward (Lindsay 67), Omochere (Hutchinson 43), Sotiriou (Hunt 60), Taylor, Conteh, Forde.

Subs not used: Thomas, McCormick, Forbes.

Booked: Omochere, Hunt, Forde, Moore

Sent off: Forde 56

Referee: Simon Mather

Attendance: 12,843 (1608 away)

Rovers boss Matt Taylor said: “I’m incredibly proud of that group of players. Certainly in terms of that second-half performance. We were OK in the first half; we made a few mistakes, which allowed their chances, and the little bit of momentum they gained allowed them to get their tails up.

“Then obviously, the home crowd as well. But we had a threat about us, certainly in that first half. We know what happened with the red card. We don’t feel that’s acceptable on our part because we play the biggest part because we play the biggest part in that.

“We went a goal down, but what we did from that point on will probably show where we want this team to be on a more regular basis, and they gave everything and more. I’m so sad and sorry for them that they don’t have more to show for the game.”

“We make certain mistakes in the game; anyone can see that,. But the red card mistake is one that doesn’t need to happen. There’s a football aspect, and then there’s a personality and character aspect, which we do need to improve on.

“Forde will certainly learn from it and in a hard way.

“We changed shape, and we trusted them to link the play with shorter passes and still having a little bit of threat at the top end of the pitch. Then all of a sudden, we gained a little bit of control in that ten-men period, and we built and built and built.

“The belief grew, the forward play grew, and then all of a sudden, we’re peppering their goal. But for incredible saves from the goalkeeper and goalmouth scrambles, I’d be standing here with the biggest smile on my face and with a deserved point.

“It’s such a shame that I think everyone there would appreciate that there was a united and committed team out there with enough skill in certain areas of the pitch. Loads of areas to improve, we know that, but it is certainly a moment for us to pick up and take to take to the next level.

“A lot of things went against us today. A good goalkeeping performance, poor refereeing performance, a bit of naivety from ourselves, some poor bounces of the ball that wouldn’t quite land to us.

“But we’ve got to force the issue, and we’ve got to make it happen. We created enough to get something out of the game. The headline and reports will all be about our performance, but the newspapers will read a 1-0 defeat tomorrow morning.”

Reading boss Ruen Selles said, per RDG.TODAY: “I think Sam [Smith] is improving his level and today we saw one of his most complete games for us.

“It’s good that we have more than one option on positions and that means that the team is growing. Especially in that schedule when it’s very tight, we need to keep our energy levels. I think Sam is an exceptional player and he showed today.

“I think I expect us to control the game a bit better, especially at the end. We defended as a team and at the end we have a goalkeeper there and that his job is to take the keep the ball out of the net and hit did well today.

“We know where we are as Reading FC. We take it one game at a time. The most important thing is that we continue getting points, we are almost at half of our target for the season, and we are feeling competitive in the league.

“That is the most important thing. Now it’s three wins but we hope at some point that we will make it 7,8 or even 10.”

Here’s Twitter users fans reacted as Shaq Forde calls out abuse sent to him on Instagram; while elsewhere Bristol Rovers and Reading fans fight at a train station…

@_joshuahemmings: This is unacceptable. @Official_BRFC do something, and do it now.

@brfcjacob: @Official_BRFC report to the police and stop him from attending games

@Itzhazza12: vile

@stroudgas: Unacceptable behaviour by a Rovers fan, totally

@ElliotLane11: Always got to be one cretin that takes it too far. He’s a young lad who made a mistake, hoping this doesn’t shatter his confidence

@mancgas: @Official_BRFC @ReadingFC seems uncertain who this idiot supports. Get your heads together check ticketing systems and involve the Police. Should never share a football stadium with decent folk ever again. #utg

@Ryann_BRFC_95: Ban the cunt, fucking racist little gobshite

@George_ycfc: Come back to York Shaq where you’re actually loved x

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