West Bromwich Albion has taken action against a supporter who posted offensive content on social media targeting Bradley Lowery, a six-year-old Sunderland fan who tragically lost his life to cancer. The club has suspended the individual’s account and is cooperating with the police in their investigation. Bradley, an inspiring young Sunderland fan, captured national hearts with his resilience against Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma but succumbed to the rare childhood cancer at the age of six in 2017.
In response to the hateful posts, West Bromwich Albion expressed their condemnation on their official website, stating that the identified supporter’s account has been suspended pending further legal inquiries. The club reserves the right to impose an indefinite ban, and they issued a sincere apology to Sunderland AFC and the Lowery family for the distress caused by the disgraceful comments.
We can confirm we are assisting police after being alerted to a hateful social media post referencing Bradley Lowery.
We are appalled by the disgusting post and offer our sincere apologies to @SunderlandAFC and the Lowery family.
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) December 11, 2023
West Bromwich Albion said in a statement, “We are assisting police with their investigations after being alerted to a hateful social media post referencing Bradley Lowery in the aftermath of the club’s defeat at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.”
“Bradley was an inspirational young Sunderland fan who captured the hearts of the nation as he bravely battled stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma – a rare form of childhood cancer – before tragically passing away in 2017 at the age of six.”
“Albion has identified and suspended a supporter’s account pending further legal investigations, and reserves the right to issue an indefinite club ban.”
“The club are appalled by the disgusting post and offer their sincere apologies to Sunderland AFC and the Lowery family” .
This incident follows a previous occurrence earlier in the year, where a Sheffield Wednesday fan mocked Sunderland supporters with an image of Bradley during a match at Hillsborough Stadium. In a related case, a judge spared immediate jail for a Sheffield Wednesday fan, Dale Houghton, who admitted a public order offense for similar actions. Houghton received a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid work by District Judge Marcus Waite, who denounced his behavior as utterly appalling and disgraceful.