Steven Gerrard’s cousin sacked by Oldham after allegedly making racist Whatsapp joke

Anthony Gerrard left Oldham at the end of July

Despite having 12 months remaining on his deal, the defender saw his contract torn up by the club. In an official statement, the Latics said Gerrard had been sacked following “gross misconduct arising from certain social media posts which brought the club into disrepute”. It has now been claimed by the Daily Mirror that the alleged gross misconduct relates to a ‘racist joke in a players’ WhatsApp group’. ‘It is understood the Latics were later informed that Gerrard had posted a tasteless joke about the Islamic holy period of Ramadan on the WhatsApp group,’ the Mirror reports. Gerrard has since joined Oldham’s League Two rivals Carlisle United on a short-term deal but is now being investigated by the FA. He famously faced his cousin - former Liverpool captain Steven - in the 2012 League Cup final between the Reds and Cardiff at Wembley. Gerrard missed the crucial spot-kick for the Bluebirds after the match had gone to penalties. “After that game we had a party, we would have had a party if we had lost it in 90 minutes. We were underdogs,” Gerrard said later in an interview with Wales Online. “I must have drunk about 30 bottles of Heineken at the party and we went out after it, and I’m not joking, to this day I was stone cold sober going home. “I could have drunk petrol, I could have drunk white spirit, nothing could have got me drunk and let me forget that penalty, nothing at all.” The 32-year-old has also featured for Accrington Stanley, Walsall, Hull and Shrewsbury during his career before suffering relegation from League One with Oldham last season. The Latics have declined to make any further comment on Gerrard’s departure following their original statement.