Abuse aimed at Hull City star Abu Kamara shows football has big mental health challenges
The Tigers winger made a positive impact off the bench despite their crushing defeat
Abu Kamara knew he was in for a rough ride on his first return to Norwich City barely a month after leaving the club to join Hull City on deadline day, he was going to be the pantomime villain.
Warnings from Canaries boss Johannes Hoff Thorup for home fans to go easy on the 21-year-old were always unlikely to be heeded given the world we live in, and so it proved.
On a day when Norwich, who were lauded for their powerful video last year, dedicated their matchday programme and pre-match messaging to World Mental Health Day – including a pre-match ‘Minute’s Unsilence’ where they encouraged all fans to talk to each other, while both sets of players went into a huddle – and Samaritans splashed across their shirts, it was somewhat galling to see the abuse aimed at Kamara during his warm-up on the side of the Carrow Road pitch – in the end, Joao Pedro went along to give him some moral support.
