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Sunderland players agree to offer fans £24 refund following 8-0 humiliation

In light of Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone vowing to reimburse travelling fans who witnessed the club’s 8-0 capitulation at Southampton on Saturday, Sunderland players have agreed to refund the cost of the tickets.

The 2,500 disgruntled supporters will be able to reclaim the £24 admission cost although cost of travel will not be reimbursed.

Fans have until 5pm on Wednesday, November 5 to submit a claim by returning their match ticket either in person at the Stadium of Light ticket office or by post to SAFC (Refunds), PO Box 165, Sunderland SR5 1WF, enclosing their name, address and customer number.

Any funds which are not claimed by the deadline will go to Grace House, which provides respite, palliative and end of life care for children and young people throughout the North East who have life-shortening conditions for which there is no known cure.

It is estimated that the gesture will cost Sunderland’s footballers £60k in total.

Sunderland captain, John O’Shea, said: “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.”

Sunderland will now look to transfer their off the field repentance to the pitch and rectify the situation further by beating Arsenal in their next Premier League game this Saturday.