Neville in ‘sexist’ tweet row Social media posts under scrutiny after landing England women’s job
LONDON — No sooner had Phil Neville been appointed head coach of the England women’s team on Tuesday than he found himself facing flak for “sexist” Tweets.
A message from Neville’s long-standing Twitter handle @fizzer18 from December 2012, said: “U women of (sic) always wanted equality until it comes to paying the bills #hypocrites”.
Another that same year had the former Manchester United, Everton and England defender appearing to say: “Morning men couple of hours cricket be4 (before) work sets me up nicely for the day.”
Asked why he’d only referred to men in his message, a reply on the account of Neville, — an ex-England schoolboy cricketer — said: “When I said morning men I thought the women would of been busy preparing breakfast/getting kids ready/making the beds-sorry morning women!”
The married father of two appeared to have deleted his Twitter account on Tuesday.
The old posts came to light again barely hours after Neville was appointed by the Football Association on a contract that will run until the end of the 2021 UEFA Women’s Championships.
They provided fresh embarrassment for English soccer’s governing body, with the 41-year-old Neville succeeding Mark Sampson after the former was sacked in September over allegations of misconduct in a previous role and amid a racism row that led to widespread criticism of senior FA officials.
“I am honored to be given the chance to lead England. With the new coaching team we are putting in place, we can help the players build on their great progress in recent years,” Neville said.
England hopes to stage the 2021 European Championships, with Neville taking over a team that reached the last four of the 2017 Euros and is now third in the world rankings, behind only women’s soccer superpowers the United States and Germany.
Question marks
His appointment is sure to raise question marks about the FA’s procedures given he has never previously worked in the women’s game.
However, Neville insisted: “This squad is on the verge of something special and I believe I can lead them to the next level.”
Neville and his brother Gary graduated from United’s academy as part of the famous ‘Class of 92’, with both going on to be part of Alex Ferguson’s fabled 1999 treblewinning squad.
Since retiring as a player he was part of the coaching staff under David Moyes at both Everton and United as well as with the England Under-21s.
He also holds a UEFA pro coaching license and had some involvement when Gary briefly managed 2015-16.
Coaching is very much a family affair, with another Neville sibling, Tracey, the head coach of England’s netball team.
Neville’s first assignment in his new job will be the SheBelieves Cup tournament in the US in March, when England plays France, Germany and the host. Then comes next year’s women’s World Cup in France, with England, whose next qualifying game sees it Valencia in play Wales in Southampton on April 6, looking to improve on its third place at the 2015 edition.
That result was also achieved under Sampson, but the Welshman’s reign ended in controversy after he was accused of racism by England striker Eni Aluko, although it was “inappropriate and unacceptable behavior” in a previous role with Bristol Academy that eventually led the FA to fire him.
England Under-19 women’s coach Mo Marley took over as caretaker boss of the senior side and helmed the team to a 1-0 friendly loss to France in October before overseeing World Cup qualifying wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kazakhstan.
Attention was then focused on Neville, rather than a female boss, when Chelsea women’s manager Emma Hayes ruled herself out of the England job.