'Furious' Niall Logue blasts rival USL fans after vile chants about his mother's death

The 6' 4'' Derry man, now plying his trade with Memphis 901 FC in Tennessee, recently opened up bravely about the tragic loss of his mum Jacqueline after a short battle with Cancer in February 2019 and the impact her death had on his own mental health.

And on Sunday the Gobnascale native described how he was mocked and targeted by a volley of 'disgusting' comments about his mum by a section of rival Birmingham Legion FC supporters at AutoZone Park.

The 26 year-old explained how the personal verbal abuse left him 'angry, hurt, saddened and furious' as they referenced the loss of 'the closest person to me in my life'.

The cousin of current Derry City left back Danny Lafferty took to social media to voice his anger about the 'disheartening' scenes and called on the USL club to 'educate your fans' about appropriate behaviour.

According to Logue, fans shouted 'where is your mother Niall?'; 'She isn't here to love you'; 'She would be disappointed in you with your life' and 'Go join her'.

Logue described himself as 'thick skinned' but felt the chants from the terraces during his side's 3-2 victory over Birmingham had 'crossed the line'.

"To be writing this type of post after an unbelievable win last night and the scenes we all witnessed is nothing short of disheartening," he began. "For me as a person and especially for the type of people where I come from, we are all pretty thick skinned all things considered.

"I am the first person to love a bit of banter with the away fans because I think it’s a huge part of the game and it’s honestly just great craic hearing them come up with all types of ways to get into your head.

"But to be playing the sport I love against our biggest rivals last night and and hearing the away fans specifically target me about my DEAD mother is when I draw the line! To be saying such things like: “Where is your mother Niall”; “She isn’t here to love you”; “She would be disappointed in you with your life” , “Go join her”. "And that’s just keeping it light as I don’t want to share the exact specifics. To me that’s crossing the line and honestly disgusting!

"I have never been as emotional, angry, hurt, saddened, furious to state a few (emotions) while playing a football match. Just because I am big or brave enough to openly talk about the pain and heartache of losing the closest person to me in my life and share my story with everyone does not give you @bhmlegion (Birmingham Legion FC) or any other set of supporters the right to target someone for that!

"@bhmlegion you seriously need to educate your fans on what is appropriate and not appropriate to target certain players with, when it comes to so-called “banter!"

Logue's club, Memphis 901, former club Finn Harps and several former teammates were among those sending messages of support to the Derry man.

Ex-Derry City striker and USL veteran Eamon Zayed said those responsible should feel 'ashamed' and called for lifetime bans.

"Absolutely shocking stuff," said Zayed. "As you said we all luv [sic] a bit of banter but THIS is so so far past that line. The people involved should be ashamed of themselves and deserve a life time ban. Niall mate, I can tell you that the players and coaches are with ya [sic]. and I'll have your back on this."