League One side Blackpool FC have deleted their commercial twitter account after widespread criticism of its abusive tweet at a fan, The Telegraph reports. The employee who was handling the twitter account @CommercialBFC has since been fired, but the club have taken further action by deleting the handle that was setup to update the club’s fans on their commercial and PR activities.
The incident occurred after a rift broke out over the state of the pitch at Blackpool’s home ground, Bloomfield Road. Supporters have been calling for the playing surface to reinstated to proper playing conditions but to no avail. One fan jokingly approached the club through its commercial twitter handle that he will donate £20 to Gary Parkinson foundation if the surface was made suitable in time for the new season.
Being provoked by the person handling the Twitter account, the supporter said that he will stick to the offer as it was for a good cause. The handle replied: “ "Back track, typical a******* w*****.”
Fans have been unhappy over club chairman Karl Oyston
To make matters worse, it got into a heated debate with another fan who were questioning the usage of such a derogatory phrase to one of the club’s own supporters.
And it’s not the first time an incident of this sort has taken place with the side who were playing in the Premier League just four seasons ago. Chairman Karl Oyston was banned from all football activity for a period of six weeks in June for sending abusive text messages to a supporter.
The Seasiders have been embroiled in controversy for some time with supporters unhappy at the way Chairman Karl Oyston is running the club. There have been reports of a leaking gym centre, players refusing to eat the food served before training at the club and washing their own kit. The recent incident, however, was one too many and the club have been forced to take action and respond.
The club tried to douse the fire by claiming that the twitter account was not being managed by a current employee at the time of the incident and released a statement on the matter on their official website.
“The club has been made aware of comments emanating from a Twitter account overnight that has previously advertised commercial opportunities. This account has not been utilised for promotional purposes by the club for some time and is not accessible to any current employees.”
“The club does not condone the views expressed and has since had this account removed. The only account for football club business on Twitter is @blackpoolfc, while hotel enquiries can be directed to @bfchotel,” the club’s official statement read.