“During that time I think that we weren’t playing badly at a club and I wasn’t playing badly but certain people decided to just send abusive messages after pretty much every game and it got to a point where I thought this is not OK,” Cain added.
“It didn’t matter what I did on the pitch and it does affect you at some point.
“You see so much of it you start thinking, are they right? Obviously you know that they’re not but I think it was becoming so much that sometimes you have to speak out.”
Cain believes people can forget that footballers “are actual humans”, with abuse affecting players’ lives away from the pitch as well as family members.
Therefore, Cain says, she will use her platform to try to prevent further abuse.
“I think when you do say something, people start deleting all the negative comments they’ve made and they think that’s OK,” she added.
“But if I can have a tiny, tiny effect on people maybe thinking before they write something, then I’ll absolutely do that.”
“You have to take the good with the bad sometimes and I understand people can get carried away and let their emotions get away from them, but I think [it is good to have] a reminder that it can have a serious effect on people’s mental health.”