Mark Sampson: Stevenage caretaker charged with using racist language by FA

Stevenage have lost just one of their past five games under Mark Sampson, but remain bottom of League Two

Stevenage caretaker boss Mark Sampson has been charged with using racist language by the Football Association.

The ex-England Women manager, 37, had been subject to an FA investigation since September after an allegation by a former coach at the League Two club.

At the time Stevenage said the allegations had "no foundation".

Sampson was sacked by England in 2017 after evidence of "inappropriate and unacceptable" behaviour with female players in a previous role.

Before his dismissal, Sampson had that year been cleared of wrongdoing following discrimination allegations made by England players, including then Chelsea and Lionesses striker Eniola Aluko.

The FA then apologised to Aluko and England team-mate Drew Spence for Sampson's racially discriminatory remarks after an independent barrister ruled he made unacceptable "ill-judged attempts at humour" on two occasions.

In January the FA reached a settlement with Sampson after an unfair dismissal case.

Former Bristol Academy boss Sampson has been charged with an "aggravated breach" of FA rule E3 and has until 6 December to respond.

According to PA Media, it is alleged the remark was aimed at a player during a conversation about transfer targets.

Sampson replaced Dino Maamria at Stevenage in September, with club chairman Phil Wallace backing him to become their permanent manager despite the Hertfordshire side being bottom of the fourth tier.