MASON HOLGATE appears to have deleted his Twitter account amid accusations he made homophobic tweets in the past.
Everton star Holgate is embroiled in an alleged racism row following a bust-up with Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino last night.
The pair clashed during the first half of the 2-1 FA Cup third round win for Liverpool at Anfield.
And the FA are set to launch an inquiry after Holgate accused Brazillian striker Firmino of racially abusing him.
The alleged incident led to the Everton defender losing his cool on the pitch.
But following the match, some Liverpool fan pages on Twitter began sharing screen-grabs of Tweets claiming to have been made by Holgate.
They appear to show the verified account @MasonHolgateee, which has belonged to the 21-year-old, making gay slurs at people he apparently knows.
One was made in 2013, with the other two in 2012 when the Premier League star was still at school.
PLOT THICKENS Roberto Firmino facing FA investigation after racism claim from Mason Holgate
They claim England under-21 international Holgate used homophobic slur terms “faggot” and “battyboy”.
Holgate deleted his account on the social media site last night in the wake of the controversy surrounding the match – although it is not clear why he took that step.
In 2016, then Burnley striker Andre Gray was banned for four matches by the FA after homophobic tweets he made in 2012 were uncovered.
The Watford star made a grovelling public apology pleading for forgiveness and claimed he had changed as a person since the tweets were written.
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And two years ago Coventry’s Chris Stokes was also banned after making homophobic posts on Twitter, using the word “faggot”.
The row between Holgate and Firmino overshadowed the game at Anfield which saw Virgil van Dijk score the winning goal on his debut following his £75million move from Southampton.
Everton FC have been contacted for their comment and are investigating.