Joe Willock has lifted the lid on the sickening "lowlifes" who targeted him online and led to Northumbria Police being contacted after the defeat to Fulham.

The midfielder missed a chance in front of the goal, which resulted in a disgusting social media pile-on and Eddie Howe arranging an emergency meeting to check on Willock's emotional welfare. Willock has thanked his boss for the support during a harrowing time and revealed that his family were also threatened.

Willock, who netted twice against Birmingham to send Newcastle into the last 16, said: "Everyone has an opinion on your performance. You can tell me I’m not good enough, you pay to watch us and that’s your opinion, you know. But when you bring race into it or bring your family into it, that’s when it crosses the line."

READ MORE: Newcastle learn 'extra lap' truth after shocking £26.5m Mike Ashley revelation

READ MORE: Newcastle United face crisis Eddie Howe was dreading after Lloyd Kelly exit

When asked if the situation has become so bad on social media these days that he almost expects to read such insults, Willock said: "Maybe sometimes, it’s lowlifes you know? They have nothing else to say and the first thing they come for is your colour."

Willock was asked about the levels of abuse and the difference between a player's display being criticised and racism online. He said: "Especially when you are threatening to do things and talk about racism. It’s different. It’s happened to me many times. It was the severity of it.

"That’s why I had to put it out there. If you are not only coming for my race but threatening my family, wishing bad things on them. That’s when I have to put it out there and report it. You could actually endanger someone. If you have that hatred, I had to do it."

Speaking about Newcastle's response to the incident, Willock said: "Newcastle have been excellent, they’ve reported it to the police and the right people. I feel like there needs to be an extra step to eradicate it from the game. We seem to be going around in circles.

"Someone gets it, makes a big deal out of it, then it happens again, then it goes quiet. And it happens again. It’s come to a point where it’s taken out of the game, and the sooner, the better."

Willock has now called on social media companies like Meta and X Corp to deal with the problem. Willock suggested that software should now be sophisticated enough to block anybody posting racial hatred.

The ex-Arsenal star said: "From the club side, they gave me everything. They tried to sort it out as soon as possible - but it’s bigger than that. It has to be clamped down upon from the social media side. From the higher people in the social media companies.

"It’s not going to stop if we don’t do it. Luckily, I have a family and great team behind me who support me. I worry for the boys who don’t have that and who receive those messages, it could be detrimental."

Should there be a louder voice for players suffering at this level with perhaps legendary figures that have been through it discussing it more?

Willock added: "I’m not sure. I’d like to think so. For me, social media is the problem. It’s the only way they (trolls, abusers and criminals) can contact us. If they were sending in letters, it wouldn’t be the same thing. If they have a platform to say these things, social media needs to cut it out. I don’t know how they do it but I’m sure they can that they block these messages. That would be a great start to eradicating it."