Sawyers was subjected to the abuse during his side’s loss to Man City (Picture: Getty)

?Simon Silwood is accused of sending an offensive message to the footballer via social media in January of this year.

?The 49-year-old from Kingswinford has been charged under the Communications Act to appear before Dudley Magistrates Court on 29 April.

?The investigation has been carried out by PC Stuart Ward who is the UK?s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit.

?He is at the forefront of our unit?s ongoing work to stamp out any abuse against footballers and fans.?

The force have also been investigating another report of a racist comment aimed at Sawyers, while West Brom had to contact police again after striker Callum Robinson was the target of a string of racist messages after the side beat Chelsea 5-2 at the start of the month.
A number of high-profile players, past and present, have been subjected to racist abuse on their social media pages in recent months, with the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Reece James, Fred and Ryan Sessegnon speaking out and sharing the messages they have received.

Sawyers’ teammate Robinson was also targeted with racist abuse (Picture: Getty)

Social media bosses are under increasing pressure to implement tougher measures to prevent individuals ? who often hide behind anonymous, unverified profiles ? from being able to send out abuse.

Former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry announced last month that he was quitting social me...