A 21-year-old man has been charged with racially abusing ex-Premier League star and football pundit Stan Collymore on Twitter.
Northumbria Police said Joshua Cryer, of Jesmond, Newcastle, was charged on Saturday night with "a Section Five racial public order offence and a Section Five public order offence".
The force spokesman said Cryer would appear before Newcastle magistrates on Monday January 23.
Northumbria Police began an investigation in the early hours of Saturday after an allegation was passed on from colleagues in Staffordshire.
Collymore, 40, originally from Cannock, Staffordshire, played for a string of top clubs, including Liverpool, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
He works as a broadcaster for talkSport and campaigns against racism and is a supporter of charity the Depression Alliance.
