Newcastle United star Joe Willock has taken to Instagram to highlight sickening, racist abuse aimed at him in the aftermath of the Magpies' defeat to Fulham. Eddie Howe's side lost 2-1 at St James' Park, conceding twice after taking a first-half lead through Jacob Murphy.

Willock was introduced as a substitute in the second period, along with Kieran Trippier, but neither player could drag Newcastle over the line with a share of the spoils. The 25-year-old missed a guilt-edged chance shortly after coming on following some good work from Alexander Isak on the edge of the area.

In the hours after his cameo performance, Willock shared the vile messages he had received to his Instagram story, with one user using the N-word after criticising the midfielder's aforementioned miss. The Newcastle star reacted to a second, equally abhorrent message, with the response "I hope you find God bro."

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Willock received nothing but praise and support after sharing the messages, with Newcastle fans voicing their disgust at the abuse on their own social media accounts. The former Arsenal star also went public with racist messages aimed at him after Newcastle beat the Gunners 1-0 in October 2023.

Back then, both Willock and Bruno Guimaraes were targeted with Newcastle condemning the abuse, while the former urged Instagram to find those responsible. “Our message is clear. There is no room for racism in football or society," Newcastle said in a statement at the time.

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out last year received record-high reports of discrimination during the 2023-24 campaign, with levels of racism, sexism and misogyny rising. 1,332 incidents were reported across English football, representing a 32 per cent increase from the previous season.

Kick It Out chairman Sanjay Bhandari believes there is now a "greater awareness of reporting procedures", with the rates rising for five consecutive seasons. "Encouragingly, we are seeing stronger punishments for racist abuse in recent years," he told the BBC.

"Including the toughest ever handed out to a football fan found guilty of racist abuse at a football match earlier this season."