Sunderland Players Offer to Refund Traveling Fans' Tickets After 8-0 Loss

Sunderland's players apologised to the club's fans who travelled to Southampton to watch the Black Cats end up on the wrong end of an 8-0 thrashing with a wonderful gesture on Tuesday, offering full ticket refunds.

The club released a statement via its official website, where captain John O'Shea thanked the fans for not walking out on their team during the match:

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We win and lose as a team, players, staff and fans, however we wanted to acknowledge and thank the supporters who travelled such a long way to give us their backing and despite everything, stayed with us until the final whistle.

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Fans can claim their refunds by contacting the club before November 5, and all unclaimed refunds will be donated to Grace House, a Sunderland-based children's charity.

Former Premier League star Robbie Savage previously suggested the club take action after the humiliating defeat, as shared by BBC 606:

Southampton came into Saturday's match after an impressive opening month that saw new manager Ronald Koeman nab the manager of the month award, but few were expecting the goal-fest Saints served up at St. Mary's.

Graziano Pelle scored twice and Dusan Tadic handed out four assists, allowing Southampton to cruise to a massive win after Santiago Vergini gave them the lead with an own goal.

Manager Gus Poyet didn't mince his words after the final whistle, via BBC Sport:

ESPN FC's Craig Burley couldn't help himself after he heard the news fans would now be receiving a refund:

The club's official statement shared how fans can claim their refund:

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Anyone wishing to claim a refund should contact the club before 5pm on Wednesday 5th November. 

Supporters are kindly asked to return their match ticket either in person at the Stadium of Light ticket office or by post: SAFC (Refunds), PO Box 165, Sunderland, SR5 1WF. Supporters must enclose name and address details, along with their customer number.

After the November 5 deadline, the outstanding money not claimed by supporters will be given to Grace House. 

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While it's a nice gesture from the players, the traveling fans will still feel hard-done by. Most of them had to travel some 640 miles to the South Coast of England and back, and travel costs will not be covered by the refund.

Sunderland's players are clearly still embarrassed at what happened over the weekend, and the Black Cats will attempt to rebound when they host Arsenal on Saturday.

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