Spurs hit 9 and Wigan cough up £15k

So this weekend, as well as Leicester City's great last minute winner at home to a lack-lustre Plymouth, Tottenham Hotspur had a bit of fun.

Wigan Athletic were the visitors for Sunday's match and were one-nil down at half time. However, after Jermaine Defoe's (pictured) five goal salvo, Tottenham finished the game winning nine-one! The most goals scored by any player in one half in the Premier League and the highest goal tally for 14 years (since Manchester United beat Ipswich Town 9-0 in 1995). Harry Redknapp, Tottenham manager, has called Defoe 'England's best finisher' and the forward looks almost certain to have a trip to South Africa ready for the summer.

The best bit about this story is the reaction of the Wigan players. The players seem genuinely disappointed and embarrassed about their performance and, in a gesture of good will to their loyal fans who travelled the 200 mile trip down the country, have pledged to pay back all those who bought tickets. At over £20 a go, the team look to be paying £15, 000, or £1, 000 for each member of the squad, and although this is probably less than a week's wages for most players, is a great step towards a decent community in football.

I truly believe football is an amazing community activity: people can talk about it at work, at school, through the day; people can come together to play with each other; families and friends will spend a day joined in a mutual interest. However, the people involved in football, apart from the fans, often seem set apart from the loyalty that fans show and this goes towards a bad view of football as a whole. Lets hope more professional players will, firstly, own up to when they just haven't been good enough and, secondly, show the loyalty and belonging that football fans show and footballers should have.