Oldham Athletic have confirmed that they have sacked Anthony Gerrard for telling a fan to “throw sh*t at yourself”.
The 32-year-old, who is the cousin of Liverpool legend and Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, had 14 days to launch an appeal, though he declined that option.
As a consequence, the club have confirmed he is no longer on their books.
Gerrard, a centre-back, had a year left on his contract with the Latics but a row on Twitter led to his dismissal.
He branded one supporter a “weirdo” and told another to “go and throw sh*t at yourself”.
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A statement from the Boundary Park side reads: “Oldham Athletic can confirm the club have terminated the contract of Anthony Gerrard.
“His contract was terminated for gross misconduct arising from certain social media posts which brought the club into disrepute.
“In accordance with Anthony Gerrard’s contract and Football League procedure, he had 14 days to appeal the decision, no appeal was lodged.
“As a result his contract with the club has now ended.”
Meanwhile, Oldham boss Frankie Bunn has said that the player’s conduct was unacceptable.
“It's all about the club ultimately. No one person is bigger than the club and that's the way it should be,” he told the media.
“If you look at the millions of pounds that the big Premier League clubs spend then it's still the same there, no one player will ever be bigger than the club.
“This is football, everybody moves on. There are different times in a player's career where you have to move on and that has come for Anthony.”
Gerrard started out at Everton as a trainee before moving to Accrington on loan and then Walsall on a free transfer, where he spent four years. Since then, he has enjoyed spells at Cardiff, Hull, Huddersfield and Shrewsbury before switching to Oldham in 2016. He had played 62 times for the League Two club.
Gerrard had already signed on at Carlisle before news of his sacking was made official. He will remain there until at least the beginning of the January transfer window.