Football fans unite to call for bans for Chelsea supporters who targeted Declan Rice with vile chants about his girlfriend – hours after she deleted her Instagram posts following abuse from body-shaming trolls

Football fans are uniting to call for Chelsea to ban a group of supporters who sang abusive chants about Arsenal and England star Declan Rice and his girlfriend.

Rice was targeted by Chelsea fans during Arsenal‘s 5-0 win over the Blues on Monday, after his long-term partner, Lauren Fryer, deleted all of her Instagram pictures having receiving a barrage of abuse online over her appearance.

Lauren, 25, who is the childhood sweetheart of Arsenal’s Rice, also 25, wiped all posts from her Instagram page in recent days after finding herself the target of cruel online trolls.

The trolling made its way into the real world on Tuesday, however, with footage shared to X. formerly Twitter, showing Rice to be the target of vile chants from Chelsea fans. 

Footage from the away end at the Emirates on Tuesday showed a group of supporters singing a chant that referred to Rice’s ‘bird’.

There were chants directed Rice’s way as he went to take a corner in front of the away end

Fans from a number of different clubs have spoken out against the vile abuse to call for bans

Rice appeared to be getting ready to take a corner in front of the away end of the club he played for as a youth between 2006 and 2013.

The England star ignored the chants, which repeated the slur three times.

Fryer has been taunted for her appearance, with the bullying first starting in December last year when an anonymous account told midfielder Rice he ‘could do better’.

But after Monday’s video emerged, fans from a number of different clubs grouped together to condemn the abuse and call for bans for any supporters involved. 

One fan of West Ham, Rice’s former club, wrote: ‘I think this is one of the most depressing things I have seen sung in recent years.’ Another added: ‘Absolutely disgusting, have them banned from the stadium.’

Chelsea supporter Dave Spencer posted: ‘Shame on them for letting the fans down, as a Chelsea fan I find this disgusting.’

Chelsea’s own ground regulations read: ‘The following activities are strictly forbidden and will result in arrest and/or ejection from the Ground… Racial, homophobic or discriminatory abuse, chanting or harassment is strictly forbidden and will result in arrest and/or ejection from the Ground.’

Fryer has since been vigorously defended by Rice fans over the comments. Taking to X on Wednesday, one outraged fan wrote:  ‘I honestly worry about the mindset of some people. This is Lauren Fryer the girlfriend of Declan Rice who has suffered so much on line abuse recently.’

Another posted: ‘A beautiful woman, a couple in love, with a young family. Some within this world need to get a grip’, while a third shared: ‘Appreciation post for this beautiful woman Lauren Fryer. We’re sorry to see that in 2024 women are still subject to so many disgusting comments.’

Love Island star Liberty Poole, meanwhile, who appeared on the seventh series in 2022 and Love Island All Stars earlier this year, wrote on her Instagram Stories: ‘I think she’s beautiful this is crazy.

‘What happened to celebrating different body types and embracing how we are all individually made.

‘Beauty standards these days are unrealistic and everyone’s gone mad because of social media.

‘I’m going to keep preaching about it till I die. Time for change, this can’t continue.’

Fryer and Rice live in London together having met at school when they were 17 years old 

Lauren wiped all posts from her Instagram page in recent days after finding herself the target of abuse

Love Island star Liberty Poole (pictured) felt compelled to speak out after Lauren was taunted for her appearance

Fryer has also been vigorously defended by Rice fans over the comments on social media

Fans of Rice also jumped to the defence of his long-term girlfriend after she deleted her Instagram posts

The couple have been together since 2016, meeting at school and have a son together, 20-month-old Jude.

They live in London together, having met when they were 17.

Fryer now has nearly 80,000 followers on her public Instagram account, though no longer has any photos on the account.

She can regularly be seen in the stands supporting Rice when he plays for both Arsenal and England.

It has, meanwhile, been suggested that a fake press conference could have prompted the wave of vile abuse that led to Fryer deleting her photos.

The post, which is completely fabricated and purports to relay Rice’s response to disparaging questions about his girlfriend during a fictional press conference, was shared on Saturday – just three days before her Instagram content was deleted.

In it, Rice is asked why he opted against dating stereotypical ‘glamour models and pop stars’ in favour of his childhood sweetheart.

Meanwhile, in December fans rushed to Lauren’s defence after a vile troll posted about Declan’s ‘low standards’.

The account responsible for posting the tweet has since been suspended after hundreds criticised the troll.

Rice lives in London with Fryer, who now has nearly 80,000 followers on her public Instagram account

It has been suggested that a fake press conference could have prompted the wave of vile abuse that led to Fryer deleting her photos

Rice was targeted by Chelsea trolls as he and his partner Fryer faced a barrage of abuse

In August 2022, Rice appeared to confirm the birth of his first child with Lauren by revealing a tattoo dedicated to a new born boy during a game when he played for West Ham United 

The tattoo, which circled the England international’s lower left arm, revealed the name Jude, an apparent birthdate and a quote 

Fryer can regularly be seen cheering on Rice from the stands during his games for Arsenal and England 

In August 2022, Rice appeared to confirm the birth of his first child with Lauren by revealing a tattoo dedicated to a new born boy during a game when he played for West Ham United.

He prompted speculation at the time that he had welcomed Jude earlier that month by exposing a tattoo of the child’s name and apparent birth date – August 7.

Jude’s star-sign, Leo – characterised as a symbol of self-confidence and attractiveness – also featured within the delicate inking on then-West Ham captain Rice’s lower left arm.