Darren Graham says that he is also prepared to name "a number of referees" who have failed to do enough to protect him from taunts about his religious background. Graham (25) announced his retirement last weekend after receiving abuse during a game against Brookboro.

The Sunday Tribune has learned that the match report submitted by referee Paul Campbell made no reference to any sectarian comments.

Despite the lack of any official documentation to substantiate the allegations, however, Darren Graham has the full support of his club.

GAA president Nickey Brennan and Ulster president Tom Daly both confirmed that the association would be conducting "a vigorous investigation into the allegations".

Graham said the abuse started when he was a teenager breaking into the Lisnaskea first team. "It first happened to me when I was 18 and playing in my first senior championship match. It was against Enniskillen in Teemore. I was called a black c**t. One of the Lisnaskea players made him pay for it right away, " he said.

"The support from the club and Lisnaskea community has always been 100%. But over the years, the abuse just kept happening again and again.

All that changed were the people and clubs involved."

Graham was three weeks old when his father, Cecil, a serving member of the Ulster Defence Regiment, was shot dead in 1981. The IRA also murdered two of his uncles. Both men were also in the UDR.