Atlanta [USA]: Watford skipper Troy Denney has revealed the abuse he suffered for speaking against the Premier League's plans to restart the UK's football competition amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Deeney also said that people abused him online and even went on to say that the people wished ill on his five-month-old baby.
"I saw some comments in regards to my son, people saying: I hope your son gets coronavirus. That's the hard part for me. If you respond to that, people then go: 'Ah, we've got him' and they keep doing it," a news channel quoted Deeney as saying.
All Premier League clubs on Wednesday voted unanimously to resume contact training. However, on the same day, the Premier League confirmed that four more people have tested positive for the coronavirus.
"In a time where it's all about mental health and everyone says: Speak up, speak out, please speak. Danny Rose spoke out and I spoke out and we just get absolutely hammered and battered for it," Deeney said.
"So people see that and go: 'Woah' and it's not just us that gets it, the missus gets direct messages and you'll be walking down the street and people will be like: Oh, I'm at work, you go back to work," he added.
Watford is currently placed near the bottom of the Premier League table. Deeney said that when he spoke out against restarting Premier League, people accused him of wanting the season to be cancelled so his club avoids relegation.
However, players like Sergio Aguero and N'Golo Kante, who belong to top clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea have also spoken out against restarting Premier League.
"Personally, I just think this is showing me that the players have so much power if they actually all came together. That's what this is showing me. I've had a lot of messages of support from people that I wouldn't normally -- well, that I didn't even know had my number for a start," Deeney said.
"But certainly from players from bigger clubs and that shows me that I must be doing something right because I'm just a little old Troy from Watford and everyone seems to listen to what I say," he added.
The Premier League has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this month, Germany's Bundesliga became the first major football league to resume its suspended season.
Spain's La Liga is looking to resume its season in mid-June as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gave the green light to resume the season on June 8.
