A man has been banned from football matches for three years after sending a racist message to a footballer.

Harry Dunbar, 20, from John Bunyan Close, Whiteley, sent the abusive message to Christopher Wreh via Instagram.

The abuse was sent after an FA Cup match between Tamworth and Tottenham Hotspur in January.

Dunbar was identified as the sender of the message by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, who worked with other forces.

Wreh had come on as a substitute for Tamworth, but upon checking his Instagram after the match, found the abusive message from the account 'Dunztagram'.

Wreh took a screenshot of the message, including the username, and shared it on his social media, saying: "After an amazing day today, this is the last thing I expected to see when I opened Instagram."

This post was viewed more than 1.7 million times, and Wreh was contacted by others who identified the account holder as Dunbar.

The information was then passed on to the UK Football Policing Unit and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s dedicated Football Unit.

Dunbar was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated malicious communications, and his phone was seized.

Despite the Instagram account having been removed, it was confirmed that he was the owner of the 'Dunztagram' account.

Dunbar admitted to sending the message because he had lost a bet.

He was sentenced at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on June 18, where he was handed a three-year football banning order, a 12-month Community Order of 200 hours unpaid work, and 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.

Superintendent Adrian Hall, head of the operations unit for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, said: "Nobody should ever be subjected to such vile and disgusting abuse, regardless of what they do for a living."

Cheshire Constabulary Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the NPCC lead for football policing, said: "His comments were totally abhorrent and quite rightly they shocked and appalled people across the country when Wreh bravely shared the message that he had been sent.

"We have been clear that hate crime online or in person, is not acceptable."