A FORMER Colchester United footballer at the centre of a racism storm has said he will continue to stand strong as a “proud and successful black man”.

Earlier this week Ryan Gondoh, 23, shared a video online in which he receives a tirade of racist abuse from a homeless woman.

In the clip, the woman, who was sitting outside the Queensway Underground Station, in London, is heard repeatedly calling him the N-word.

Ryan then reacts to her highly-offensive language by branding her a “little tramp” and kicking over her begging cup.

After her change scatters across the floor he is then heard saying: “The old me would have kicked you in your head”, before pouring a bottle of water over her a short while later.

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The video has since gone viral and Ryan has now issued a statement on his social media pages addressing the incident.

He said: “The woman initiated a conversation with me by asking me for money and I kindly apologised as I did not have any change on me.

“She replied by racially insulting me by saying: ‘You greedy n***r’ - she repeated this racial abuse.

“This resulted in [me] feeling so angry and upset to be abused in this way, especially as it was an unprovoked attack.”

Ryan has also addressed the way in which he reacted to the woman’s verbal abuse.

He added: “I don’t condone my actions, it was an involuntary expression of my anger after I was repeatedly insulted for being black.

“Should I have reacted better after being racially abused? I think so. However, using the N-word is abuse.

“It is hard to tell someone how to react when you have never walked in their shoes.”

Since publishing the footage, the footballer has been sent a stream of disturbing, racist and threatening messages.

Ryan signed for the Us in 2018, making six appearances for the club before being released the following year.

He now plays for Wealdstone FC.

Colchester United players have rallied around their former teammate and his former club has said it “condemns racism and discrimination”.

Ryan added: “I will continue to use my platform to stand strong against racism and any form of oppression.

“I stand strong as a proud and successful black man.”