Former West Brom winger James McClean receives birthday abuse

The Republic of Ireland international, who turned 30 on April 22, received a card containing a stream of vitriolic and abusive comments about his nationality.

It also includes vile references to Adolf Hitler, Operation Flavius and Bloody Sunday.

The former Albion winger is a regular target of abuse for his well-documented political reasons as to why he will not wear the poppy.

McClean has previously taken to social media to call for the Football Association to do more in attempting to prevent such behaviour.

He took to Twitter on Wednesday to reveal the latest abuse he has received, posting images of the vile words written on the card’s front, back and inside.

McClean tweeted a pictured of the card wth the caption ‘No words needed’, showing phrases such as “Fenian sub human b*****d” and “Happy Birthday and die on April 22” can clearly be read.

Inside, the hatred escalates, with Bobby Sands referred to as the 1981 “Slimmer of the Year”.

Sands was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze after being sentenced for firearms offences.

Anti-racism organisation Kick It Out released a statement after the abuse, saying: "We reiterate our stance, which we have previously made clear: sectarian abuse is discriminatory and should be dealt with accordingly. It has no place in football.

"Kick It Out has been in continuous contact with Stoke City on this issue and have offered our support to James McClean. The vicious treatment he continues to receive is a disgrace and brings shame upon the sport.

"This season we have received two reports of sectarian abuse directed at James, both of which we have forwarded to the relevant bodies to investigate, as per protocol.

"We encourage anyone who is a victim or witness of sectarian abuse in England to report it to us."