Hitchin sack player over ‘sick’ tweets at Bournemouth’s Harry Arter

Harry Arter: Penned a new with the Cherries.

Harry Arter: Tragically lost his baby girl

Hitchin Town have sacked semi-professional footballer Alfie Barker for offensive comments sent on Twitter to Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter about his stillborn daughter.

The Football Association will investigate the tweets from an account in the name of Barker, which were sent to Arter after Arsenal came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at Bournemouth on Tuesday night. One of the messages said: “atleast you didn’t lose your kid.”

It was then followed up by another tweet to the midfielder which said: “big hype just for a disappointment like the 9 months leading up to your childs birth.”

On Wednesday, Barker issued an apology for what he described as ”disgraceful comments”.

Southern Football League Premier Division side Hitchin hold Barker’s registration, with the midfielder having been playing on loan at Langford and Codicote.

Hitchin issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon announcing they were “terminating Alfie Barker’s registration and relationship with the club with immediate effect”.