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Taylor Curran says Swindon Town fans who abused him online have been fed lies.
Curran left the Robins after their relegation from League 1 for a fresh start at Maidstone, making his debut in the 3-1 win at Oxford City last weekend.
Part of the squad who won League 2 the year before, his time at the County Ground ended badly with the young defender becoming a target for a section of supporters.
He made 14 appearances last season - 11 in the league - amid rumours he was only playing because his dad was paying his wages.
“It’s been tough,” said Curran, 21.
“I don’t know why it started but, regardless of how I’d played, I’d go on my phone and get abuse for no reason.
“It got to a point where I had two years left on my deal and I just wanted to get away.
“There were loads of empty rumours being fed that weren’t true, like my dad paying my wages.
“That is absolutely mental. You can check who pays the wages, who puts what in and where.
“At the end of the day the manager is not going to get told to play X, Y or Z, because he wants to win games and keep his job.
“I wouldn’t have played 15-odd games if the manager didn’t believe in me.
“He’d have put someone else on the bench. It’s absolutely mad.
“I scored a goal against Oxford - that’s a massive derby - and played a lot of minutes coming off the bench.
“You’ve got a young lad who’s never played in the Football League, who’s learning the ropes, getting absolutely abused by a small minority who are very loud on Twitter.
“I got a lot of messages from fans saying don’t worry, they’re idiots, we’ve got your back, but even when it’s a small proportion making a lot of noise, who are being fed lies, what can you do?
“I enjoyed my time at Swindon, it just got nasty at the back end and one thing led to another.”
Curran worked with Stones boss Hakan Hayrettin as a teenager at Braintree.
They pair had stayed in touch and a move to Maidstone appealed.
After going down with Covid in pre-season, he’s had to wait for his debut, which came as an early substitute for the injured Joe Ellul at Oxford.
“I had a couple of Football League offers but I spoke to Hak and said I wanted to knuckle down and get some games,” said Curran.
“It’s the best decision I’ve made coming here. I love the lads, I love the set-up.
“Me and Hak had a good relationship at Braintree, he took a chance on me at 18 in the National League, and we always kept in touch.
“He’s trying to build something here and four wins and a draw speaks for itself.
“Even the boys who aren’t playing, there’s a real togetherness here.
“It reminds me of the year we got promoted at Swindon.
“We had a core group of players who all loved each other.
“This squad hasn’t been together long but it feels like we’ve been playing together for years and you can’t fake that.
“You either have that or you don’t - and we have it. We’ve got each other’s backs, they’re a great bunch and I love them already.
“I’m happy to get my debut and have a half-decent performance but I’m not mad if I’m not playing because I just want the team to win.
“I want to be out there but they’re my pals over everything else and if we’re doing well and winning games, I’m happy.
“I’ll support them like they supported me when I came on.”
