England Twitter Account Removes Controversial Tweet as Footballers Return Home

The England Twitter account posted, and then swiftly deleted, a tweet that referred to the England women's football team as "mothers, partners and daughters" (h/t Tom Warren of The Verge):

"

And @england's own goal has been deleted. Good for all the mothers, partners, and daughters out there I guess pic.twitter.com/4oOJaNGX0m

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) July 6, 2015"

The tweet referred to the team returning home from Canada after an inspiring campaign in which they reached the semi-finals before beating Germany to claim third place. They were the first England team to reach a World Cup semi-final since 1990.

Fans on Twitter made clear their disapproval of the statement:

"

Oh @england after our #Lionesses fought so hard, they deserve much better than this! #opentopbusparade pic.twitter.com/CYx8nKoLAU

— NoMorePage3 (@NoMorePage3) July 6, 2015"

"

.@England's football association sent a very sexist tweet about its women's team http://t.co/8Hssif7UXp pic.twitter.com/YykHEvoveQ

— Mashable (@mashable) July 6, 2015"

"

@NoMorePage3 @england That's disgusting. Might as well have said, get the kettle on love and make us a sandwich.

— Nick (@BoogalooNick) July 6, 2015"

"

Lovely bit of #everydaysexism from the England twitter feed #putdownyourmedalandmakemeasandwich pic.twitter.com/fbmbUNbe9F

— Jess Lishak (@jesslishak) July 6, 2015"

The tweet was quickly taken down.

[Twitter; h/t Tom Warren]