England fan racially abused and told team lost ‘because Marcus Rashford is black’

Youth worker accosted in street after Sunday’s final

An England fan said he was racially abused on a London street after the team lost to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

David Smith, 20, said he was told that Gareth Southgate’s men lost in penalties because Marcus Rashford, one of the five penalty takers, “was black”.

The 20-year-old youth worker told the MyLondon website he had just left a bar in Hoxton, east London, when a woman approached him and proceeded to racially abuse him.

“I was walking on the phone to my brother talking up the line up and talking about the players, saying 'Why did they put so and so on', this, that and third and I mentioned [Marcus] Rashford,” he said.

“I was walking to the bus stop and then some woman was like 'What are you saying? England lost because of Rashford'.

“I was like, 'okay yeah, maybe' and then she was like, 'you lost because he’s Black'.

“I was like 'what?! You’re racist.' She said: 'You lost because he’s Black, England’s like this because of you'.”

Mr Smith said he did not react to the woman’s comment and continued walking to the bus stop.

It was not clear if the incident was reported to the police. The Independent contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.

After England's loss to Italy in the final on Sunday, Rashford, 23, Jadon Sancho, 21, and Bukayo Saka, 19, were themselves targets of racist abuse after they missed spot-kicks in the penalty shootout.

Ministers have since come under fire for “stoking the fire” of prejudice by not backing players taking the knee before each game.

Footballer Tyrone Mings has hit out at Priti Patel, the home secretary, after she previously said players taking the knee was “gesture politics”.

“You don't get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as 'Gesture Politics' & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we're campaigning against, happens,” he said.