03 May 2023 , 14:41
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Callum Wilson has poked fun at Tottenham after his Newcastle side dismantled them 6-1, resulting in the Spurs players refunding fans and the sacking of Christian Stellini as interim head coach.
A win for Spurs at St James' Park 10 days ago would have kept them in the race for Champions League qualification, but instead they were soundly beaten, being 5-0 down within the first 20 minutes of the match. Wilson rounded off the scoring in the second half, responding to a consolation goal from England teammate Harry Kane to complete a humiliating afternoon for the north London club.
A day later, Ryan Mason was promoted to take the job of Stellini, who had initially been appointed until the end of the season to replace Antonio Conte as manager. Also as a result, Spurs players faced pressure to reimburse the away fans who travelled to support the team, many of whom left early.
In what was a crucial match, Newcastle fans would have been delighted with the outcome. However, had the tables been turned, would the Magpies players have offered a refund of their own?
Speaking on the Footballer's Football Podcast with Michail Antonio, Wilson poked fun at Spurs' players with his response. “We wouldn’t go 5-0 down!” he quipped before laughing.
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Debate raged as to whether the refund was necessary, but it was eventually confirmed following pressure from former players such as Chris Waddle who piled the pressure onto the club to make a decision. Spurs fans had made a 285 mile journey to watch a team who produced their worst performance of the season in arguably their biggest league match.
Callum Wilson scored in the 6-1 win ((Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images))Waddle led the calls, telling Mirror Football: “I want the club to apologise to the fans and to reimburse them. They should get their money back. It was a shambles. It was that bad. They made a 600 mile trip to see players do that."
A club statement released by Spurs confirmed: “As a squad, we understand your frustration, your anger. It wasn’t good enough.
“We know words aren’t enough in situations like this, but believe us, a defeat like this hurts. We appreciate your support home and away, and with this in mind, we would like to reimburse fans with the cost of their match tickets from St James’ Park."
Spurs fans made another trip north a week later and slipped to a 3-0 half-time deficit to Liverpool at Anfield. They levelled the scores in a stunning fightback but conceded in the 94th minute to Diogo Jota who made it 4-3 to the home side.
It was Mason's second match in interim charge after a midweek 2-2 draw with Manchester United and Gary Neville joked that the club should set up a direct debit to repay fans amid such disappointing performances.