Ireland striker Adam Idah reveals vile racist abuse sent to his Instagram account

Idah, 20, was handed a rare start by manager Dean Smith and struggled to make his mark in a struggling Norwich team, yet his the abuse on his social media account is likely to leave a more lasting impression.

The striker posted images of a series of messages from one Instagram user who posted a succession of monkey images directed to Idah's account.

This is the latest in a series of racism incidents involving high profile players in the English game, with new wide-ranging punishments now coming into the game.

Online racism and abuse connected to football could see offenders banned from attending matches in England and Wales for up to 10 years, with British Home Secretary Priti Patel is bringing forward legislation so that Football Banning Orders, which can currently be imposed on people convicted of violence, disorder and racist or homophobic chanting, will be extended to cover online hate offences.

"This summer we saw the beautiful game marred by disgraceful racism from online trolls, who hid behind their keyboards and abused our footballers," said the Home Secretary.

"Racism is unacceptable and for too long football has been marred by this shameful prejudice.

"Those responsible for appalling racist abuse online must be punished. The changes to the law I am announcing will make sure they are banned from attending football matches."

There are currently 1,300 Football Banning Orders in force across England and Wales, barring individuals from going to regulated football matches for between three and 10 years.