Mason Holgate suffers vile racist abuse following red card for horror tackle as club releases statement

MASON HOLGATE suffered vile racist abuse after his red card against Brighton.

The Everton defender is on loan at Sheffield United and made his bow in Sunday’s clash against Brighton.

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Mason Holgate suffered vile racist abuse after his red card against Brighton[/caption]

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The defender was making his debut after joining from Everton on loan[/caption]

However, Holgate got off to the worst possible start for his relegation-threatened side.

He received a straight red card in the 13th minute for a brutal challenge on Kaoru Mitoma.

And bottom-place Blades went on to suffer a heavy 5-0 defeat in front of their own fans.

But Holgate, 27, has now revealed he received disgusting racist messages following the match.

Taking to social media, the centre-back hit out at the bigots targeting him — while also apologising to Sheffield United for his early dismissal.

Holgate said: “I can only apologise for letting my teammates, club and fans down on the weekend, and have done so this week personally.

“However, the last 48 hours has been difficult to take. The constant racist abuse across my social media.

“As a sport and society we need to do more and there needs to be consequences for racism.”

Holgate was backed to the hilt by the Blades, who released a statement of support.

It read: “We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the racist abuse received by Mason Holgate.

“We will support Mason and applaud him bringing this to light on social media.

“The club will work with relevant bodies to investigate. There is no room for racism in our game.”

Speaking after the defeat to Brighton, United boss Chris Wilder lamented Holgate’s early bath.

Wilder said: “He [Holgate] has got it wrong, I want us to be competitive, I want us to win tackles, we can’t have a passive game. 

“It is a competitive game, it is not a non-contact game but we have to get that right, Mason has to get that right.

“It is a huge setback for us in the approach to the overall game. 

“I am torn, I am a competitor and I understand that it was a very, very strong challenge and the game has moved on.”

Holgate began his career at Barnsley before being snapped up by Everton in 2015.

He’s since featured 149 times for the Toffees while taking in a loan at West Brom.

And Holgate spent the first half of the term with Southampton, playing five times for the Championship outfit.