The Nigeria international said howhis wife, Susannah, recieved threatening letters from Manchester City fans before this years League Cup saying she had betrayed the white race marrying a black man. This was not the first time Sodj' had been hit by di*kheads, he spoke of his first time, 'The first time was when I played for Stevenage Borough,'
'Opposing fans would shout "monkey", "black bastard" and "go back to the bush" at me, Barry Hayles, who's now at Fulham, and the six or seven other black players in the team.'
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After that Macc Town signed the star on a free transfer and again he recieved abuse, this time from Hartlepool... 'During one game at Hartlepool, I got called different names and I recall one guy shouting "Hey monkey" when I was running on to the pitch before kick-off. I was annoyed, but I couldn't go and hit the guy. Sammy McIlroy, my manager at the time, told me to forget the abuse, just play the game and that not all fans are like that.'
Then he revealed the most shocking bit of the interview when a fellow proffesional threw 'Black bastard' remarks at him: 'He 'came up to me and said, "You're a black bastard." I defused the situation by not reacting. I just said, "I know I am." His remark made me play even better and later on he was substituted without having scored and with us winning. As he went off, I went up to him and said, "How's that for a black bastard?" He didn't say anything then.' - Sodje is refusing to name and shame him though.
Then only weeks ago before the Manchester City away tie in the league cup his wife was the subject of the abuse, Sodje however remained calm. A letter arrived for his wife at the hospital where she works, Sodje explains: 'Susannah received a letter at the hospital where she works just before the game, and another a week later, from someone claiming to represent a group calling themselves the Manchester City Governors, telling her that she was a disgrace for going out with a black guy. I wasn't worried but it panicked her a bit. I would have been more worried if they had arrived at our home.'
However he admits that in England it's a very small majority who are the knob heads. 'It's not every ground you go to that you get it, and probably only three to five per cent of fans are racist. The fact that Arsenal fielded eight or nine black players when they beat Leeds recently showed that football has come a long way.'