Phil Neville deletes Twitter account after controversial posts surface

Hours after being appointed England Women's manager, Phil Neville deleted his Twitter account after controversial old posts resurfaced.

Shortly after the former Manchester United defender was named as Mark Sampson's permanent successor, tweets from Neville's account in 2012 that could be perceived as derogatory to women were circulated on the social media platform.

Neville followed the Football Association (FA) announcement with a post on his official Twitter account that read: "Extremely proud and honoured to be the head coach of the @Lionesses and Im unbelievably excited about the challenges ahead!!"

However, shortly afterwards his profile was taken offline. The FA has been contacted for comment.

The Lionesses had been without a manager since Sampson was dismissed in September, with misdemeanours during his time at Bristol City's academy leading to his departure.

Sampson had also been embroiled in a race row having allegedly discriminated against Eniola Aluko, though the FA insisted at the time that his dismissal was not connected.