Premier League - Wigan to refund fans after rout

PA Sport - Mon, 23 Nov 15:41:00 2009

Wigan's players have offered to refund supporters who travelled to Sunday's 9-1 thrashing at Tottenham.

2009 Tottenham 9-1 Wigan scoreboard - 0

The Latics crashed to the second worst defeat in Premier League history as they conceded eight second-half goals at White Hart Lane.

Defender Mario Melchiot admits the result was embarrassing and, along with the rest of his well-paid team-mates, will pay away fans the cost of tickets.

Around 700 Wigan fans attended the game, leaving the players with a bill in excess of £15,000.

Melchiot said: "We feel that as a group of players we badly let down our supporters yesterday, and this is a gesture we have to make and pay them back for their tremendous loyalty.

"There is not a lot else to say, just that as a group of professionals we were embarrassed by the way we performed, we feel it was below our standards and this is something we feel we owe to the fans.

"Now we have to draw a line under the game, focus completely on training this week and bounce back on Saturday.

"We are professionals, we will take it on the chin and move on but it's important that we do not take our supporters for granted."

Wigan return to action when they host Sunderland this weekend.

PA Sport

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  1. starting 11 for next match ...­ kirkland
    scharner....bramble.......scharner......scharn­ er
    n`zogbia......scharner.....scharner......scharner...­ ..rodallega
    ........................scharner...........­ ....................
    only player who gives his all­ every game even when not fully fit

    From wafc4life, on Tue 24 Nov 7:54PM

  2. A season ticket for all Wigan fans who went to that­ game.

    COYS!

    From lee, on Tue 24 Nov 7:31PM

  3. wow what a nice gesture when all we hear about is greed­ in football x

    From Fahad, on Tue 24 Nov 9:58AM

  4. i have to say that the game was brilliant, and as much­ as i hate Wigan, i must praise them because of this­ act, they should have shown an better effort ont he­ pitch, they were dreadful!!!! next week they have­ Sunderland, who have just beaten Arsenal, i dont expect­ them to win that game if the performance shown by­ Sunderland is repeated, however if they do pull it out­ of the bag and get a win or draw then fair plays to­ them. :D

    From trishwilkins196, on Tue 24 Nov 8:51AM

  5. A decent move by the players, lets hope we do that if­ we have a bad defeat­ too.............................somehow i dought it!!­ COYS

    From Wayne, on Tue 24 Nov 8:45AM

  6. 1 MOR OND THEY WAD HAV GOT 10.

    From Donney, on Tue 24 Nov 8:09AM

  7. COME ON YOU SPURS!!!

    From mail4books, on Tue 24 Nov 8:08AM

  8. lol @ 86 if leeds ever made it to the premier league­ they would go straightback down! they cant hold their­ own in top flighjt football like sheff utd.

    From hoggy4shona, on Tue 24 Nov 7:23AM

  9. I have to say, fair play to the Wigan players for the­ offer. The real joke is not the 9-1 defeat. The real­ joke on soccer supporters is the wages that­ professional players get paid. I mean if you had a­ contract and you were paid X per game regardless of how­ you played or the results and final positions, how well­ would you play? I have watched soccer since 1977 (I­ also played for 10 years). These days I see lots of­ players playing for various clubs (including the team I­ support) that are to be frank, rubbish and highly­ overpaid.I also feel that a cap on transfer fees and a­ cap on wages would be great for the game,it could bring­ balance to the game and give smaller clubs more of a­ fair chance...If professional soccer players want to­ learn about comittment I suggest they attend and watch­ a GAA football match in Croke Park,Dublin,Ireland....­ L.F.C. G77

    From G, on Tue 24 Nov 6:57AM

  10. Re: jamest comment 86; the fact that Leeds are in Div 2­ is because THEY deserve to be there... True Wigan­ played like a below par team in the second half, but­ Tottenham's Lennon and Defoe really played like the­ world class players they are. All I can say is I hope­ that Wigan sort their defence out otherwise they might­ one day end up joining Leeds in Div 2 as I doubt if­ they'll ever be playing them in the Premier.

    From mindblower001, on Tue 24 Nov 6:17AM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    yous deserved everything you got it should have been­ 20 wigan are a poor side thy shouldn even be in the­ prem when u consider teams like leeds are 2 divisons­ below

    From james t, on Tue 24 Nov 5:44AM

  12. It's good to see Wigan's players are really­ down to earth people and as a Spurs fan I hope they do­ bounce back from this - it wasn't just a one off,­ but honestly their defence was dreadful in the second­ half - dunno what their manager said to them at half­ time but the responsibility is as much his as­ anyone's.

    From mindblower001, on Tue 24 Nov 5:36AM

  13. will they also pay travel expenses also ??? wigan were­ an insult to proffesional footballers ..and the one who­ looked a clown with his hair half and half schamer or­ something like that even looked the part of a stupid­ team he was the clown of the team as he looked it­ ,,,its sad for good fans who travel so far when players­ cant even try ,,if i was a wigan fan i would not turn­ up for the next home game ,,,show them what that joke­ ment to you ,,good look wigan ,,and we see it every­ week a sad pompey fan

    From tasdeon, on Tue 24 Nov 5:34AM

  14. Was never offered a refund when we lost to Man Utd by­ 9......Ipswich Town Fan...

    From kevinlynch373, on Tue 24 Nov 5:30AM

  15. It really makes me giggle! All these grown men who­ clearly haven´t grown up since they were at school­ getting paid all this money to play like the kids who­ got picked last in P.E! And there´s people who risk­ their lives every day of the week to save regular­ punter´s lives getting paid a fraction of the amount.­ It´s pathetic!!!

    From Gaz, on Tue 24 Nov 2:53AM

  16. Pocket change to them

    From Mark, on Tue 24 Nov 2:13AM

  17. I'm a Spurs fan and genuinely felt sorry for the­ away supporters, so well done Wigan, my faith in­ football is restored for now!

    From Nick, on Tue 24 Nov 1:10AM

  18. well done wigan one team to be proud of, how many other­ team/players would do this

    From DOG, on Tue 24 Nov 12:17AM

  19. Decent move from Wigan players towards their fans­ .Draws my respect and best wishes for the rest of the­ season . Well done .

    From L, on Tue 24 Nov 12:17AM

  20. THAT IS A FANTASTIC MOVE - well done, Wigan, I respect­ you guys for it (but they should pay also for­ travelling costs...)

    From gordon.merk, on Mon 23 Nov 10:34PM
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