Stephen O'Donnell: I've had eggs thrown at windows, I know how bad abuse can get

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Motherwell captain Stephen O’Donnell has experienced sectarianism and had eggs thrown at his window, and says self-policing of fans can help stamp abuse out of Scottish football.O’Donnell says that while he signed up for that by becoming a professional footballer, his wife and kids didn’t, and neither did Stuart Kettlewell’s family.The former Scotland defender has some sympathy for Kettlewell, who stood down from the Motherwell manager’s job on Monday, saying his family were affected by the abuse he was receiving from sections of the club’s own support.While O’Donnell says everybody at the club just has to ‘get on with it’, he firmly believes it’s not something anybody should have to put up with in any walk of life.O’Donnell said: “I’ve had eggs thrown at my window.

I say it’s part and parcel, but I don’t like saying that, because it shouldn’t be the case, but I signed up for it.“My kids are too young to really understand it, and my wife doesn’t really care – she doesn’t like football, and that’s one of the perks.“I try and work hard, and hopefully get out the other end.

I know that in football if you then start to perform well, or better, it goes away and it becomes positive. So I try not to get bogged down in the negative.“I signed up for it.

I’m at my wee boy’s football on Wednesday, first game of Fun Fours, and the parents are getting animated at the side.“There’s passion involved, that can sometimes spill over to being a bit too far.“The vast majority of fans in football are great but there is always the people that spoil it for the rest with the sectarianism, the racism and the abuse.”O’Donnell added: “Is the abuse getting worse?