Getting a serious hiding is bad enough for fans to have to endure, but when the round trip was almost 700 miles, the faithful supporters who made the trip were probably fairly annoyed.
That's something that the Sunderland players are more than aware of, and after losing 8-0 to Southampton on the weekend in a stunning result, they've decided that they need to pay for what happened, in a very literal sense.
They've put together £60,000 (€76,000) to reimburse the fans who made the trip to St. Mary's only to see their team get a thorough spanking with a wooden spoon. Goalkeeper Vito Mannone suggested it earlier in the week, and captain John O'Shea ran with the idea, saying that "we win and lose as a team, players, staff and fans. However we wanted to acknowledge and thank the supporters who traveled such a long way to give us their backing and despite everything, stayed with us until the final whistle."
Fans can either head to the Stadium of Light and get their £24 back, or they can mail in their ticket, but if they haven't done so by November 5th, then the money will be donated to charity. It's a great gesture, and a pretty good way of getting the fans back on their side after such a terrible performance.
Given how bad Liverpool were against QPR on the weekend and the fact that they're facing the bunch of multi-million pound genetic freaks that is Real Madrid tonight, they might want to start the whip 'round early...
Via SB Nation. Main pic via DKODigital/Flickr
