Gary Lineker announces the sad passing of his mother – and trolls mock him

‘Trolls’ is probably the wrong word. They’re just d**kheads.

Gary Lineker announced on Twitter that his mother had passed away on Tuesday evening. She had been ill and he missed the weekend’s recording of Match of the Day to look after her.

As you probably know, there is a mostly harmless – if tedious – trend of responding to every tweet that Lineker posts with ‘sh*t on [subject of tweet]’. It refers back to an incident that occurred during the ex-England captain’s playing career.

Now you would think that a message confirming the death of his mother would be spared such crass and offensive replies, considering the heartbreaking gravity of the situation and the deep offence it would cause.

Sadly you would be wrong. We won’t grant the anonymous ‘trolls’ the attention they crave, but clicking on the time stamps of the two tweets below will show you the replies – mostly respectful and sympathetic, but some just inappropriately vile.

I am profoundly saddened to tell you that my wonderful, beautiful mother has left us. She will though live on in my heart and mind. #RIPMum

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) September 29, 2015

She wouldn't want sympathy. She wouldn't want tears. She would want a gin and tonic. Cheers Mum #RIP https://t.co/p38STCmMIM

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) September 29, 2015