Leroy Lita left a former team-mate on the floor in agony after warning him not to say the N-word – but he persisted in doing so.
Best known for his spells with Bristol City, Reading and Middlesbrough, Lita spent 14 seasons in the Football League and once had a bad falling out with a colleague.
Speaking on the Under The Cosh podcast, Lita said of the incident: "Cheltenham Races during the season, March or whatever, so we all went down there. Had a good day out with good banter and everything like that. We got back and I remember the bar we used to (go to). We were all in there, empty, it was just us in there on a Tuesday night or something like that.
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"Having a drink, sat next to (his team-mate) and he started singing a song and it included the N-word. I just said: 'Alright mate, don't say that'."
Lita explained how the team-mate insisted he wasn't using the word towards him – but the striker told him not to say it in his presence.
Lita added: "I told him 10 times, then I said if you say it one more time I'm going to smash your face in."
The player is then said to have repeated the word while saying he wasn't using it in the direction of Lita, who then admitted to losing his cool.
He added: "I lost my head and a team-mate came over and grabbed me, he's held me for about five minutes, I said: 'Listen, hold me as long as you want, as soon as you let me go I'm going for him, end of'."
Lita was taken outside and the team-mate he was planning to run at followed, who allegedly kept saying the word while trying to use it in defence.
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When explaining what happened after he was let go, Lita added: "I just went boom boom boom, (he) dropped on the floor, left him. Carried on with our night. (I) give him a couple of kicks to the face. He didn't even get to throw a punch."
Lita spoke of the aftermath and said his manager was on the phone within two hours, telling him to come and visit in the morning.
The veteran forward, who now plays for Nuneaton Borough at the age of 38, said he explained the situation and why he wouldn't be apologising or shaking anyone's hand, then walked out of the manager's office, never speaking to the team-mate again.
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