Jess Carter has thanked England fans for their “unbelievable support” after revealing she had been racially abused on social media at Euro 2025. The Lionesses defender said if her decision to speak up were to stop even one instance of abuse then it would have been worth it.
The Lionesses defender said on Sunday that she was stepping away from social media, because of what her teammates labelled as “online poison” aimed at her throughout this tournament. Before the extra-time win against Italy on Tuesday, England’s substitutes stood arm-in-arm with Carter on the sideline to show their support after deciding not to take the knee before kick-off.
Related: Well done the Lionesses on reaching the final, but not taking the knee was a gift to the racists | Joseph Harker
Carter told Sky Sports News: “I totally understand everyone has got their own opinions on how we play. Trust me, no one is more disappointed in some of my performances than what I am, but the colour of my skin has got nothing to do with that.
“It’s been pretty tough. I’m not saying it [speaking out] is going to make a big difference and make a change but hopefully [it is] just making people aware that it’s not OK. Racism is still going on and we’re just here to do our job to the best of our ability and hopefully bring success back to England.
“I think the fans today were unbelievable and their support was incredible and I can’t thank them all enough for being on my side and on the team’s.”
Speaking up in support of Carter the Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington, Matt Western, revealed on Tuesday that – within the space of three hours – 91 members of parliament had added their names to his call for the major social media companies to take serious action to combat what they called “the appalling racism and misogyny” directed at Carter, with Western adding: “They need to act. Here is our call on them to do so.”
Those MPs have all co-signed a letter saying they were “horrified, but not surprised” to learn of the abuse Carter received.
Carter, who grew up in Western’s constituency in Warwick and played for one of the local youth sides, Warwick Juniors, said when speaking to Hayters TV: “I’ve got mixed-race nephews and nieces. I want them to grow up being strong, brave and powerful and believe that they can do whatever they want to do.
“If me speaking up makes one silly person keep their mouth shut with certain comments, then that’s a big enough difference for me.”
Carter, who won her 50th international cap when she was brought on as a late substitute on Tuesday, also told Sky of her pride at England’s performance on the pitch, as they struck late to beat Italy, saying: “The way our team just keeps fighting until the end of every single game just shows the character that we have in this team.
“I think we’d all agree that we are hating the way that we are winning these games, from maybe not performing to the best way that we want, also leaving it so late, everyone’s aged about 20 years in the past two hours. It’s not the way we want to win games but, at the end of the day, we won and the most important thing is that we’re through to the final.”
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