Jason Steele has experienced a career resurgence at Brighton this season, having reached a point where he “hated” football due to the impact of social media abuse. Prior to his move to the south coast in 2018, Steele had suffered consecutive Championship relegations with Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland. He has since started all 11 matches that he has been available for to help his side’s push for a top-six finish, which would guarantee European qualification for the first time in the club’s history.
Steele discussed the effect of social media abuse on players following a Leeds United statement condemning the “completely unacceptable online abuse” directed towards Patrick Bamford and his family. He said, “It doesn’t just affect us, it’s our families, kids and wives. People who are sitting there writing these things don’t understand the effect. We are all human, we all feel things, we all have emotions.” He added, “You’d have a game and you’d look at your phone and some of the stuff that gets said… That’s 10 years ago and I think it has escalated so much recently.” Steele concluded by saying, “I don’t really know Patrick as a person but he hasn’t missed a penalty on purpose. He hasn’t done it to harm the fans. It’s just one of those things. It’s football. It happens week in and week out.”
Jason Steele has experienced a remarkable comeback from a point where he “hated” football due to the impact of social media abuse. He has emerged as Europe-chasing Brighton’s first-choice goalkeeper under Roberto de Zerbi this season, and is now helping his side’s push for a top-six finish, which would guarantee European qualification for the first time in the club’s history. Steele discussed the effect of social media abuse on players, highlighting the need for such behaviour to stop. He also spoke about how it affects not only players, but their families as well. His words serve as an important reminder that footballers are human too, and should not be subjected to such abuse.