PR woman mistaken for David Moyes on Twitter

An Edinburgh PR woman has been bombarded with abusive Tweets after her @Moyesy account was mistaken for under-fire Manchester United manager David Moyes.
Sarah Moyes. Picture: Ian GeorgesonSarah Moyes. Picture: Ian Georgeson
Sarah Moyes. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Even Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker wrongly tweeted Sarah Moyes, 27, thinking he was talking to the Old Trafford boss.

The Manchester United manager has come under pressure in his debut season with his side suffering poor league form and losing to rivals Manchester City 3 - 0 this week.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But despite politely pointing out she is no relation to the Reds’ boss – it has only made the situation worse and she is now suffering bizarre online abuse.

Manchester United Manager David Moyes. Picture: GettyManchester United Manager David Moyes. Picture: Getty
Manchester United Manager David Moyes. Picture: Getty

She tweeted: “I am no relation to the football manager David Moyes. Can people please stop mentioning me in tweets, I’m pretty sure he has his own account.”

Her plea was retweeted nearly 5000 times, including by ex-England star Lineker, 53.

Ms Moyes, from Polmont, said the tweets had started after United’s 3-0 defeat to city rivals City on Tuesday: “Not being in any way interested in football, I didn’t actually realise that Man United were playing. It was quite funny at first – people were mainly responding to me sympathetically or with jokes along the lines of ‘you could probably do a better job than him anyway’.”

However, it soon took a sinister turn with abusive messages and sexist insults.

“I’ve been sent some really horrible messages, either by people who still seem to think I’m David Moyes, or that I’m his daughter.”

Last night, the abuse was still coming, with appalling messages being sent to Ms Moyes, who works at The Stand Comedy Club.

“There are even some people who realise that I’m in no way connected to him that have been sending nasty messages, including one saying ‘I guess your real dad is s**t too’.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“You try not to take it personally – unfortunately there are people out there who just like to insult strangers online – but I really just wish it would stop, especially considering this is really all nothing to do with me. I actually tweeted Gary Lineker, jokingly saying he’d sent my Twitter into meltdown, and he tweeted me back saying ‘sorry’, which was very nice of him. It’s not his fault that some people have chosen to be abusive.

“It’s not David Moyes’ fault either, but it might be nice if he stepped in at some point!”

League champions Manchester United have been struggling under the former Everton manager’s guidance – with fans of the club beginning to turn against the Glaswegian’s short tenure in charge.

Mr Moyes, 50, whose official Twitter account has over 22,000 followers but is barely used, could not be contacted for comment.

With many people suggesting Ms Moyes changes her Twitter handle to halt the abuse, she has vowed she won’t bow to the bullies.

“Why should I change it? Moyesy has been my nickname since I was a teenager. I haven’t done anything wrong and no one deserves to get abuse like this anyway.”