Andre Gray scored Burnley's second in a 2-0 stroll against a feeble Liverpool this afternoon, but he enjoyed no more than a few minutes in basking in the reflected afterglow online that is usually reserved for strikers who stamp on Liverpool's dreams. This was interrupted within a few minutes of full-time, however, as some of his old tweets were dug up.
The old tweets are abhorrent, and now he has committed the second crime of being prominent enough for his views to be a matter of public discourse.
Gray sent the bulk of these tweets back in 2012, back when he was playing with Hinckley United. The fact he hasn't deleted his twitter account is proof that the tweets weren't widely read back then, but they're being circulated now that he is a Premier League goalscorer, and we wouldn't be surprised if he now faces action, because they're truly appalling.
As proof of the relevance of fame: the BBC have tweeted four-year-old bigotry as breaking news:
Breaking news like pic.twitter.com/pXiwBhIHUd
— Mooreso (@Mooreso1981) August 20, 2016
Advance warning: these tweets are highly offensive.
He has either found the error of his ways since, or, more likely, believed he had gotten away with it earlier this year:
Well done to the 2 racist burnley fans👍🏽 still live in the stone ages i see !! Ignorant prats
— Andre Gray (@AndreGray) July 23, 2016
Gray has spent post-match frantically deleting the tweets.
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UPDATE - 9:15
Gray has taken to twitter to apologise for the remarks:
— Andre Gray (@AndreGray7) August 20, 2016