Everything You Need To Know About Why A Goalkeeper Lost His Job For Eating A Pie
This might just look like a man eating a pie. But it is in fact the very moment that led to this footballer (soccer player, for American readers) and coach losing his job and two official bodies launching investigations into possible improper sports betting.
Former Sutton United goalkeeper and coach Wayne Shaw
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What's going on? It's all to do with what happened in the 82nd minute of the FA Cup match on Monday night between Arsenal and Sutton United.
In short, the goalkeeping coach and reserve goalie for Sutton, Wayne Shaw, 45, was pictured eating a pie in the dugout. It was a beautiful TV moment. Each team is allowed to make three substitutions and Sutton had made all theirs, meaning there was no chance of him being brought on, so...why not?
Just to make it better, Shaw was pictured in the club's bar at half-time (although he was reportedly just drinking water).
So what's the problem? The problem is that it just so happened that before the match Sutton's sponsor, Sun Bets, which is attached to the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper The Sun, was offering odds of 8/1 that Shaw would eat a pie on screen.
And he did, later admitting that he was aware of the bet. There is no suggestion that he was being paid by anyone.
Sutton United manager Paul Doswell told Sky News that the club has been contacted by the Football Association and the Gambling Commission, both of which are launching investigations, and said the affair may have been an "honest mistake" but could have big implications for the club.
This is a crisis so serious it has its own Sky News strapline.
It was considered more important than other stories, such as whatever was happening with whoever this is.
To add to the real-life tragedy of it, Doswell said Shaw was in tears as he was advised to resign over all this.
So in the space of about 18 hours this story has gone from a slice of fun sporting banter, to...something a bit less fun.
Nevertheless, all the football fans on Twitter predictably had a field day.
There were calls for him to be featured on the next FIFA game cover.
Anyway, who the hell are Sutton United? Arsenal are currently fourth in the Premier League, which is the top league in England where all the best teams play. They play here:
The Emirates Stadium in north London, the home of Arsenal
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Sutton, based in south London, are currently 17th in the Conference, which is the fifth-highest ranked league and mostly has semiprofessional players who also work as plumbers, teachers, and taxi drivers. They play here:
Gander Green Lane, home of Sutton United Football Club in south London
Steve Parsons / PA Wire/PA Images
The FA Cup is a knockout competition that pretty much every team in England and Wales enters – and occasionally, if they progress through the early rounds unbeaten, a very small team gets drawn against a very big one, and everyone kind of loses their shit about it for a few days. And this game was on BBC TV too, meaning lots of people who don't have fancy paid TV subscriptions could watch it.
There are usually a lot of amusing incidents on these occasions, such as, er, this:
What's the big deal with Shaw? He's been nicknamed "the roly-poly goalie" because he is not the most athletic of sportsmen and is said to weigh 20 stone (that's 280 pounds). He was a bit of a lowkey cult hero before all this hoo-hah and was regularly seen vacuuming around the pitch and generally helping to keep the club going.
Andrew Matthews / PA Wire/PA Images
He played for the youth team at Southampton as a kid and among his teammates then was Alan Shearer, one of the most lauded English players of the '90s, who said: "He did [play in the same team as me], absolutely. When we were 14 or 15. I actually followed my dreams to the Premier League, and he followed his to the burger van, I think."
He's apparently a big deal in Norway for some reason.
This whole farrago is so serious that Sutton's member of parliament, Paul Scully, told political blog Guido Fawkes that Shaw resigning was a "sad" affair.
Former England striker and TV presenter Gary Lineker came out in his defence:
So even if it seemed like a fun idea at the time, the next time someone suggests you eat a pie on live TV during your club's match, maybe don't.
Bbc / PA Wire/PA Images