The Slanch Report

Here’s something I’m sure we’re going to see in the US; so embarrassed by being torched 9-1 by Tottenham, members of the Wigan FC are refunding the ticket costs of their fans who came to the game.

“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,” Wigan defender and team captain Mario Melchiot said.

“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.”

Because Wigan doesn’t have a giant fan-base, only about 1,000 fans made the 350 mile round  trip. Even still the players are expected to shell out refunds totaling in the 5-figures.

“We have to draw a line under the game, focus completely on training this week and bounce back on Saturday (against Sunderland),” said Melchiot. “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.”

Ah, a sense of pride and caring for their fans, I’m sure we can expect the Cleveland Browns to start doing this immediately. After all, the fans ARE important.

[Sports Illustrated]