LONDON -- Patronising, sexist and old fashioned were just some of the ways a tweet from the English Football Association about its women's team was described.
The tweet, which stated that the team's players went back to being "mothers, partners and daughters," coincided with their arrival home on Monday morning. The team finished in third place in the World Cup after beating Germany over the weekend in Canada.
Here's a screen capture of the tweet:
After an outpouring of backlash, the tweet was swiftly deleted. No further mention of it has been made by the @england Twitter account, which is run by The Football Association and tweets updates about the men's and women's teams as well as other FA teams. The account has continued to send other tweets.
The initial tweet and the FA's deletion of it were heavily criticised on Twitter:
Unbelievable. @england trying to promote Women's football but continue to be sexist. (Tweet now deleted). pic.twitter.com/be6C7ekhIj— Matt Sibson (@MattSibson) July 6, 2015
They've deleted it now but what the f @england. No, they go back to being professional footballers. #Lionesses https://t.co/Z2m6PWgHGv— Georgie (@georgieotwall) July 6, 2015
.@england have now deleted their tweet which is believed to have originated from the 1800's (h/t @sarahgillmartin) pic.twitter.com/K6LJNt8ZWK— Neil S W Murray (@neilswmurray) July 6, 2015
Hollywood film of the @england women's world cup team might need a better ending speech #everydaysexism https://t.co/Wnrn79c9pG— Jack Withrington (@jhwithrington) July 6, 2015
And in one tweet, the @england FA turned the feminism clock back 100 years #everydaysexism pic.twitter.com/dxfC50ka8f— Linda Semple (@LindaFSemple) July 6, 2015
Tweet by @england has now been deleted after collective "oh FFS!" for Twitter sounds the patronising klaxon. https://t.co/wwmEzZ4QPU— TheReadPirateRowan (@AlternateRowan) July 6, 2015
It's okay @england, delete that tweet, I'm sure that will solve everything. Nobody even noticed. https://t.co/bgYUgrvCjq— Elainovision²-n-90 (@scattermoon) July 6, 2015