Gary Neville and Jill Scott swap Twitter accounts for Champions League matches | OneFootball

Highlights

Play Video

Despite the fact it's 2023, and women's football has come a long way over the years, they are still treated poorly in comparison to men within the game. Especially online, women are looked at differently and as lesser than men when discussing the sport and that has been perfectly highlighted in a video that went viral after it was tweeted by Gary Neville and Jill Scott on their respective profiles.

The video does a fantastic job showcasing just how differently women are treated as opposed to men, regardless of whether their views are shared or not. It's the fact an opinion is coming from a woman that leads to such disdain from a certain demographic, and it doesn't even matter what the actual opinion was, as Neville and Scott demonstrate in the video. It's the sad truth that there is still so much work to do against sexism in sports, but hopefully, this video will at least open eyes to how absurd it all is.

The pair both had incredible careers on the pitch, putting up fantastic numbers as the table below demonstrates, but they've also had really solid careers as pundits since hanging up their boots.

What happens in the video?

Shared by both Neville and Scott on their Twitter profiles, the video, hosted by Heineken, reveals that the pair secretly swapped Twitter accounts before a Champions League game between Manchester City and Real Madrid last season. They then tweeted from each other's profiles as though they were on their own to see the responses they would get from fans.

Unfortunately, the results aren't too surprising at all and despite the fact that Neville is tweeting as if he was on his own account, his tweets are met with toxic responses claiming he should stick to the kitchen and leave football to the men. Insinuating that one of the greatest English defenders of all time doesn't know what he's talking about, just because you think it is coming from a woman is ridiculous, but was the results that were expected.

The responses in general to Neville while he was using Scott's account were all disappointing and made numerous references to the fact she is a woman and shouldn't even be talking about men's football. Comparing that to how fans treated her when she tweeted from the former Manchester United man's account as though she was on her own, makes for a huge contrast.

The former midfielder, who played for Manchester City and Everton, was told her opinion was the most objective one user had ever seen from Neville. It's interesting to imagine how that tweet would have been viewed if it had come directly from her own account and not his.

Instead, it's likely she'd have again been told to focus on women's football or keep her opinions on what to make for dinner as one user so elegantly put it. It's a real shame that fans are still so outdated and think football isn't for women. The sheer audacity of football fans to try and tell a former professional to stop talking about the sport and insinuate she doesn't know enough about it is absurd.

Still, the video did an excellent job highlighting just how hypocritical fans can be and how they're so blinded by prejudice that they refuse to even look beyond gender when it comes to talking about football.