“We had one player who had quite high-profile struggles with his performances. I remember he had a particularly bad away game, and I was sat next to him on the bus. His phone was pinging with messages – ‘You’re a disgrace’, ‘Get out of our club’ – and I said to him, ‘Why don’t you just turn your social media off?’ He just said, ‘It’s part of being a footballer.’”
Hugo Scheckter paints a vivid picture. The former West Ham and Southampton player care specialist is recalling an incident which seems to sum-up football’s struggles with social media. For Scheckter, it’s an issue that is leading players to leave online platforms, creating a growing divide between footballers and fans.