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Simon Silwood, 50, targeted Sawyers after West Bromwich lost 5-0
to Manchester City in an English Premier League match in
January. Birmingham Magistrates Court found him guilty of having
posted a "grossly offensive message".
West Bromwich banned Silwood for life earlier this month.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that during his police
interview, Silwood admitted to posting a message on social media
after becoming upset by the 5-0 defeat but blamed an error made
by using predictive text.
The judge said his message was "motivated by or demonstrated
hostility based on race".
"Silwood deliberately chose a word known to have clear racist
connotations to abuse a footballer due to the colour of his
skin. Such behaviour will not be tolerated in football and will
be prosecuted by the CPS," said Mark Johnson of the CPS.
The court ordered Silwood to pay 500 pounds ($684) in
compensation and 500 pounds in court costs.
West Bromwich were relegated at the end of last season.
Several players have been subjected to racial abuse online in
recent months, especially in the Premier League, and English
soccer has been piling pressure on social media firms to do more
to tackle the problem.
($1 = 0.7311 pounds)
(Reporting and writing by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, additional
reporting by Mike Holden in London; editing by Timothy Heritage)
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