Sutton goalkeeper Wayne Shaw became well-known on social media during his club’s FA Cup run, with him reportedly weighing a hefty 23-stone. Considering footballers are typically at the peak of physical fitness, Shaw’s appearance inevitably became a talking point, but now he’s in the news for a different reason; he’s been forced to resign after becoming embroiled in a betting scandal involving him eating a pie.
The image of Shaw eating a pie during his club’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal potentially made some people a lot of money, who may or may not have ties to the goalkeeper. With Sun Bets, The Sun newspaper’s betting website, offering odds of 8-1 on him chowing down on the savoury meal during the televised match, Shaw took it upon himself to have his dinner while waiting on the subs bench. Shaw later revealed that he was aware of the bet, which means that he ran foul of the Football Association’s betting regulations.
Although fans found the sight of Shaw munching on his pie mid-game humourous, that the goalkeeper was aware of the bet caused problems for his club. “What happened didn’t make us look very professional,” said manager Paul Doswell. “It’s something that we’ve dealt with quickly as a club. Wayne himself offered his resignation to the chairman this afternoon, which has been accepted. “t’s a very sad end to what has been a very good story.”
Wayne Shaw became a hit on social media, with fans mocking up an image of him appearing on the cover of FIFA 18.
The FA is currently looking into any irregularities in the betting for the match, along with “establishing whether the operator has met its licence requirement to conduct its business with integrity”. Speaking after the match, Shaw confirmed that he was informed about the bet. “A few of the lads said to me earlier on: ‘What is going on with the 8-1 about eating a pie? I said: ‘I don’t know, I’ve eaten nothing all day, so I might give it a go later on,'” he said.
“As I say what is that, Sun Bets had us at 8-1 to eat a pie. I thought I would give them a bit of banter and let’s do it. All the subs were on and we were 2-0 down.”
After it became clear that his admission had placed his club under an unfortunate spotlight, Shaw elaborated on the situation. “We are told we are not allowed to gamble as it is full-time professional football,” he said. “In no way did I put anyone in jeopardy of that – this is not the case here, this is just a bit of fun and me being hungry.”
