February 6 is a significant date for those connected with Manchester United.
This year, it marked the 60th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster, in which eight of the Sir Matt Busby’s players were amongst the 23 people who perished when an aircraft crashed on take-off from the Bavarian city’s airport.
On Tuesday, the club held a special memorial service at Old Trafford. Many of the club’s current playing staff were in attendance, observing a minute’s silence at 3:04 pm – the exact time of the crash, 60 years ago.
Jesse Lingard was amongst the players in stadium’s East Stand, but, as pointed out by some on Twitter, appeared to find time to reply to a tweet asking if he and Marcus Rashford were going to play Fifa 18.
Although it’s entirely possible that the since-deleted tweet could have been published by someone responsible for running the player’s social media accounts, many United fans have called Lingard disrespectful.
https://twitter.com/BarneyHarwod/status/960894066748788736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirror.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fnews%2Fjesse-lingard-slammed-tweet-playing-11980209
https://twitter.com/laves1975/status/960900065748545536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirror.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fnews%2Fjesse-lingard-slammed-tweet-playing-11980209
https://twitter.com/Gripper2502/status/960893392476663810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirror.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fnews%2Fjesse-lingard-slammed-tweet-playing-11980209
Others have pointed out that it’s unlikely Lingard was responsible for the tweet, which appears to have been sent during the service. As a player who’s been with United since childhood, the significance of today’s date will surely not have been lost on the England international.