Sheffield United player's 'shock' after being racially abused in home town

Irish teenager Leo Gaxha went back to his native Tralee, Co. Kerry when football shutdown in March due to the Covid-19 and had been training on his own as he prepared to come back to Sheffield when safe to do so.

While there, the 18 year-old was approached by a man, when using his old youth team’s facility, and Gaxha says he was told ‘to go back to my own country’.

Gaxha was born and raised in Kerry to Albanian parents and is a Republic of Ireland under 17 international. He says the incident will only make him more determined to be a success.

"At the start, I went and trained at the KDL [Kerry District League pitches]; for the first few days, I was allowed to train there," he told Radio Kerry's Terrace Talk.

"It got to one day, I went and trained there and I was told to get off the pitch. There were other kids there as well, I said to myself that I wasn't going to argue.

"So, I just went to Dynamos to train. While I was there, training away and minding my own business - I'm not going to name his name because he's probably listening to this - a certain man decides to come over, says some stuff to me and then decides to racially abuse me.

"He told me to go back to my own country and I'm there thinking to myself, 'What's my country? I was born here, raised here. I've represented this country five times'. I'm Irish as far as I'm concerned. It's 2020, times have got to change.

"I was shocked, but at the same time, I didn't argue with the man. I said, 'Listen, he might be having a bad day'. It's unacceptable to racially abuse people but I said I wasn't going to say anything to him.

"When he went away, I just said to myself that makes me stronger because if people are saying to me, they must be saying it for a reason, they must hate me for a reason.

"That's going to give me a bit of fire. That's still at the back of my mind. That will stay with me for the rest of my life. Not only was I there but I had a little brother who's nine-years-old there watching me train. That's going to stay with me for life. When I do play, and I will play in the Premier League, that will be a big factor for me - that's pushed me, made me angry and train hard to prove people wrong.

"I'm not a person to hold grudges, I'll take apologies, but for Kerry soccer, it's unacceptable; I want to see Kerry soccer in the next 10-15 years [with] more kids like me getting an opportunity to realise their dreams.”

Highly-rated Gaxha broke into United’s 23s side this year and is expected to remain there as his development continues.