Gary Lineker explains deleted England Lionesses ‘bra none’ tweet

Gary Lineker has explained why he deleted a ‘sexist’ and ‘smutty’ tweet celebrating England’s victory in the Women’s European Championship.

The former England international and Match of the Day host referenced match-winner Chloe Kelly’s shirt-off celebration after the decisive goal at Wembley by writing: ‘The @Lionesses have only gone and done it, and Kelly is England’s heroine, bra none.’

But the pun backfired and Lineker, 61, faced an immediate backlash on Twitter, not least from people who hadn’t seen how Kelly marked the historic goal.

He was accused of making a ‘puerile sexist joke’ and of ‘casual sexism’. One reply said: ‘Women did what you couldn’t and you reduce their victory to a bra joke! Your misogyny and jealousy betrays you!!’

Lineker swiftly deleted his tweet and explained: ‘It was just a play on words given the celebration. I do rubbish like that constantly on here, including on men’s football.

‘I’ve deleted it as many people didn’t see the game so missed the context.’

Gary Lineker has explained why he deleted a tweet making reference to Chloe Kelly’s sports bra celebration as England won the Women’s European Championship final

Match of the Day host Lineker made a joke about Kelly’s bra which has since been deleted on Twitter and edited on Instagram

Kelly celebrated her winner at Wembley by removing her shirt to reveal a white sports bra

On Instagram, Gary amended the caption to be ’22 women chase a ball for 90 minutes and, at the end, England actually win. Congratulations Lionesses’ but angry comments remain underneath.

Manchester City forward Kelly channelled the iconic celebration of Brandi Chastain when the United States beat China to win the 1999 World Cup final by removing her shirt to reveal a sports bra.

The extra time goal settled a tense final at Wembley in which Germany’s Lina Magull cancelled out a goal by England’s Ella Toone during normal time in front of a near-capacity crowd of 87,000.

Lineker explained that he deleted his tweet because many people missed the celebration and so didn’t understand the context of his pun

Kelly sparked wild celebrations at Wembley by scoring the winner deep into extra time

Twitter users were angered over Gary Lineker’s bra joke, which has been described as misogynistic

Chastain enjoyed the moment, tweeting: ‘I see you @Chloe_Kelly98 well done. Enjoy the free rounds of pints and dinners for the rest of your life from all of England. Cheers!’

The BBC has also received online criticism over their choice of all-male band Kasabian to play out the broadcast of the Lionesses’ win.

Twitter users described the BBC’s choice as ‘really weird’ and ‘an own goal’.

One user said: ‘Were there no female artists available to play the tournament out, BBC?’

Twitter users criticised the BBC for failing to find an all-female band to play during the end montage which showed some of the Lionesses’ greatest moments during the tournament

Others described it as a ‘slow boring song’ and the BBC needed to ‘amplify awesome women musicians’.

Former front-man of the band, Tom Meighan, was found guilty of domestic abuse in 2020, when he hit his partner over the head and dragged her across the room.