Speaking openly about what happened after he missed a penalty against Newcastle United the previous season, Patrick Bamford
Patrick Bamford revealed how he was mistreated during some episodes of the previous season, with people even showing up outside his home. The previous time Leeds United played in the Premier League, the team battled mightily on and off the field, and Bamford became a major source of annoyance for many.
Because of this, he regrettably became the focus of admirers on social media, where the 30-year-old was compelled to delete his account and remove himself from the site due to intense abuse. However, the decision to park at the England international’s gates was not limited to the internet; earlier in the season, someone did just that.
The event happened after Elland Road’s May loss to Newcastle United. Even though the game ended 2-2, Sam Allardyce’s team’s fight against relegation was not helped by the outcome, as one guy had already lost his place in the West Stand to face Eddie Howe on the touchline, expressing the dissatisfaction of the crowd.
Bamford appeared to be used as a scapegoat after missing a penalty in the first half of the match.
“The striker stated on his BBC podcast, ‘My Mate’s A Footballer,’ that Leeds was in a pretty diabolical situation, looking like we were going down, which eventually we did.” “Up until roughly the middle of March, I was on Twitter but wasn’t tweeting regularly. The abuse got so extreme that it was endangering my family and even my young child.
“I eventually stopped using Twitter and deleted the account. I did that, and during it all, I spoke with David, a sports psychologist, who advised me to “just ignore them” and given me coping mechanisms. I recall that during our home game against Newcastle, I missed a penalty kick, but strangely, I played well. Big Sam commented after the game that it was unfortunate that I missed the chance, but that was more like what I needed from you.
After the game, there was a lot of traffic, and I got in the car and started driving. I believe there was an accident. “There are people outside the house,” said Michaela, his partner, when she called me. “What do you mean?” was my reply. Since they have been sitting here for around five minutes, they haven’t really moved. She remarked, “They haven’t moved; they’re just parked outside,” when I called her as I was approaching the village. I should be home in about twenty minutes.
I thought, ‘All right, send Dad down the drive now, get him to walk down as I’m coming in,’ as I was climbing up. Two automobiles were parked directly across the drive entrance, preventing me from even getting to the gate as I entered the drive.
“I was staring at them since they had their windows open, and when I started to close mine, they raised theirs and fixed their gaze on me. My dad had opened up, so the gate opened, and they drove out.
It was the result of everything that had happened over the past few weeks. I received a lot of criticism for that, whether justified or not. They phrased it in an absurd way. Then, I have to deal with Michaela’s lack of sense of security in her own house.
“After that, I called David right away, and he asked me how I was feeling. I felt as though I wanted to murder someone. I’m furious that someone came to the house and did that, not because of the abuse. To be honest, the club was good; they provided overnight protection for the residence.”
