When Tottenham went 5-0 down within 21 minutes at Newcastle on Sunday their supporters faced a choice.
Did they sit through this grim spectacle for the remainder of the game? Or did they make an early dart to sample the various delightful public houses on offer on Tyneside?
Whatever they did, former Spurs winger Chris Waddle feels they should be entitled to a refund after the embarrassing 6-1 defeat, telling us: “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."
Is he right though? Do clubs owe refunds to away fans when things go drastically wrong on the pitch? We asked our Mirror Football team what they think.
Darren Lewis
No, the refund concept makes for half decent PR but the truth is, poor, shambolic performances are part of the rollercoaster of supporting your team.
You wouldn't get your money back if you were lured to the cinema by a stunning trailer for a movie, only to have it let you down massively.
Nor would you get a refund if the concert you went to turned out to be a damp squib.
Or if the theatre show you went to turned out to be more amateur than amazing.
Or even if the much-vaunted boxing match you attended between two trash-talking, hyped-up fighters turned out to be one chasing the terrified other around the ring before knocking him out in the first round.
So why should you get your money back if your football team waves the white flag?
Like so much in football it is an easy, cheap suggestion to throw into the mix and easier still for clubs to offer it as a gesture to get fans off their backs.
I'm more of a fan of the club gesture offered to fans unprompted, like free travel or food or drink at grounds, than attempts to take the heat off like that.
John Cross
Should clubs offer refunds after every heavy defeat? No! Absolutely not.
Every fan knows when their team has let them down, put in a shocking performance and deserved the “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” chant.
Tottenham were definitely in that territory at Newcastle on Sunday and I think the club should think about refunding their ticket or, better still, pay for their travel to the next away game.
But if every club did it after every big defeat it would lose impact, reduce the shame of the players and almost make it normal and acceptable. Sometimes a 1-0 defeat in terms of performance is worse than a 4-1.
Fans who go home and away, spend thousands on their team, defy the TV scheduling, public transport woes, get treated like second class citizens on occasions, deserve a medal and their team to match their commitment.
But where would you draw the line on what we hate to see? If someone doesn’t train well? Misses a penalty? We all know when our team has “had one.”
I’d much rather match-going fans were shown a bit more respect generally. Because I refuse to believe any team sets out to play badly.
Mind you, whoever thought putting Cristian Stellini in charge was a good idea, does need to apologise.
Andy Dunn
Supporting a football club is like being married - only with a greater chance of the alliance lasting.
For better or for worse. In ropey form or rude health. The idea that followers should be refunded after a heavy defeat is utterly ludicrous and any fan who suggests otherwise is not a fan.
Watching your team win and perform brilliantly is great. Watching your team perform in an almost laughably abject manner is, sometimes, even better.
A lot of my mates are Everton fans. If they were paid out every time their team was hopeless, they would be in profit.
The clue is in the word. Support. Through thick and thin. Through a cuffing at St James’ Park and a home win over Manchester City.
A sense of entitlement is what makes so many radio phone-ins unbearable.
You win some, you lose some, you draw some.
You stick with your team, ’til death do you part.
James Nursey
I can't envisage a scenario where compulsory refunds are introduced for defeats of a specific criteria.
But club officials will be mindful of the mood among their supporters and the importance of heading off any unrest.
I think you have to judge each game and debacle on its own merits - or lack of them.
In this case after Spurs fans endured an estimated a 10 hour round trip of nearly 600 miles, I don't blame their fans for expecting some conciliatory gesture from the club in return after the appalling display.
Whether that is a refunded ticket, food voucher for Spurs' home stadium, invite to training or whatever, will be up to the club.
But I might suggest they do it next season when hopefully Tottenham will be worth watching again with a new manager instead of a lame duck in charge.
Should Tottenham refund fans for the Newcastle debacle? Have your say in our poll below
Neil McLeman
If you want a guaranteed happy ending, go to the cinema.
Football fans have to take the bad with the good and shocking away defeats are just as possible as thrilling late wins.
And any Tottenham fans who took the trip to the north-east yesterday after witnessing their recent pathetic performances knew it was an outside bet.
The risk was definitely not rewarded. But you don’t get a refund if your outsider falls at the first fence at the Grand National.
That does not excuse the shameful performance of the Spurs players and management - it was simply unacceptable. And many of those players should not be at the club next season.
But when should a refund apply? Anytime you lose by more than three goals? Four or five? Or for 15 trophyless seasons dating back to the 2008 League Cup?
Premier League clubs should provide subsidised travel and tickets to away games - also to guarantee the great atmosphere in English grounds - but that is another argument.
But the principle of caveat emptor applies to football - fans need to check the quality of the team before buying tickets.
Simon Bird
I watched the poor Spurs fans head for the exit on Sunday and sympathised.
Imagine spending a day, loads of cash, and travelling 600 miles to cheer on players who simply couldn’t muster a fight during those remarkable first 21 minutes, and five Newcastle goals. Most fans can imagine, because they’ve been there at some point with their own team.
Obviously as a fan you take your chances following a club. For the majority, you don’t travel expecting success or glory. The ups and down are part of the tapestry of football. The lows make the highs better. You don’t spend time and money just to see wins.
But that first 21 minutes was so awful, that Chris Waddle is correct.
Some sort of compensation is required. Spurs didn’t turn up. They didn’t tackle, track runners, organise, shout, cajole or show any aggression or pride. They were totally unprepared for Newcastle’s intensity.
Any Spurs fan who was up there in Level 7, admiring the great views of Tyneside, is due a free pint or two from the club bosses.
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has that long bar and those amazing pints that fill from the bottom of the glass. Let the poor souls drink for free next home game to numb the pain.
James Whaling
When you buy a ticket as a football fan, you don't do so with any kind of guarantee. No guarantee of victory, no guarantee of a good performance.
To start dishing out refunds would set a very dangerous precedent. How many goals constitutes a refund? Is there a sliding scale from three onwards? If you win a game by five or six, do you then have to pay extra?
Frankly, if I had received a refund for every time I'd seen my team be rubbish away from home, I wouldn't be sat here answering this question. I'd be on a beach somewhere taking a gap year.
The Tottenham fans who travelled to Newcastle for a 2pm Sunday kick-off live on Sky know the score. They are hardened matchgoers who have seen it all before, and given their current plight, can't have been wholly surprised by the outcome.
It's a ludicrous concept and should be treated as such.
Daniel Orme
Had you ordered an expensively-assembled meal in a restaurant and it consistently came out of the kitchen cold, you’d likely walk out requesting a refund.
The difference for Spurs was that they were consistently served messily up on a plate for a rampant Newcastle side still with the effects of freezer-burn on display.
Numerous attempts from floundering head chef Cristian Stellini to get the recipe right were futile as he was forced to stage an apology at the end of a painful 90 minutes.
Calls for refunds for the travelling fans were plentiful following their humiliating performance - particularly after a near 10-hour round trip that encompassed over 550 miles.
Supporters would be well within their rights to demand compensation after putting themselves through the game.
Whilst a loss can be stomached by most supporters, it needs to be said that football is meant to be entertaining. Nothing about their pathetic display at St James’ Park was entertaining for the travelling support and would likely have left them feeling sick.
The club motto in North London is “To Dare Is To Do”.
Many Tottenham supporters certainly dared to walk out of St James’ Park midway through the first-half but even a 20-minute viewing of the game would not have been worth the money.
Kieran King
No. I don't think fans deserve a refund despite the result.
Yes, I felt for the 3,000 Tottenham fans that travelled to the North East to see their team get spanked by Newcastle. But surely a refund is too much to ask for given you had a day out and had the chance to watch the full 90 minutes?
We saw Bournemouth get thrashed 9-0 at Liverpool, while Manchester United also lost 7-0 at Anfield this season - and there were no refunds issued to either set of supporters. So, why should it be different for Spurs? Simple answer is, it shouldn't.
Nottingham Forest have won just one Premier League away game all season, conceding a mammoth 39 times in 16 matches. I don't see them giving out refunds despite their wretched form?
Defeats are part and parcel of football, and although it is tough to see your team perform like that, these things happen and I don't think that should constitute a refund for every away supporter that turned up at St James' Park.
Sam Meade
I'm not sure what the threshold would be for an away day refund, but I certainly think fans should get their money back if they see a shocker on the road.
For clarity, Tottenham's loss at Newcastle certainly comes under that category. I'm not saying every 5-0 reverse warrants one, if a relegation struggler gets battered at Manchester City, well its hardly surprising is it?
But when a team simply doesn't turn up, ships a ton of goals and looks like it would rather be elsewhere, then I certainly think the fans deserve something more than the token apology in a post-match presser.
Fans, quite frankly, are cannon fodder for clubs who talk a good game but hardly show them that they're valued. Every so often, holding your hands up with some financial compensation wouldn't go amiss.
Matt Maltby
No. You can't blame Tottenham fans for demanding a refund, or at least have their travel reimbursed, after that humiliating afternoon at St James' Park on Sunday.
But, where do you draw the line? And why does it matter if it's home or away? Say, for example, a London-based fan travelled up to the north to Old Trafford and saw Manchester United thumped at home; would they then have the right to call for a refund?
And what is the definition of a heavy defeat? Crystal Palace fans travelled to Brighton on a cold Wednesday night last month, having seen the fixture rescheduled twice, and saw their team lose 1-0 to extend a winless run to 11 games.
That result may suggest it was a close affair but it was anything but; and Eagles fans had every right to make their frustrations known at full-time.
Spurs might well reimburse their fans, and the gesture would help to heal the wounds of those who made the gigantic effort of travelling 280+ miles to watch their team collapse within 20 minutes of kick-off.
But it's a dangerous precedent to set if fans expect refunds. As lovers of the beautiful game, we follow our team through thick and thin. Unfortunately for some fans, the bad times happen too often.
Should Tottenham refund fans for the Newcastle debacle? Have your say in our poll above
Tom Blow
No, of course people shouldn't be refunded. As a football fan, you support your team whether they win, lose or draw. It would be impossible for clubs to budget for potential refunds.
Having said that, it is time for ticket prices - home and away - to be capped. That way, everyone (bar concessions) pays the same, regardless of whether their team is good or bad.
Fans should also be provided with some financial support from the club, or perhaps the league, to cover some of the cost for big away trips. It's a long way from Tottenham to Newcastle.
That's what makes a heavy defeat or a poor performance so difficult to take. Teams are not always at their best; players are not machines and fans expect bad results from time to time.
But when you're paying a small fortune to follow your club - whether that be through ticket prices, travel expenses or even TV subscriptions - it makes fans wonder whether it's all worth it.
Supporters will always follow their clubs, but football is a working class sport. There has to be more sympathy towards the fans, regardless of the result.
Nathan Ridley
Supporters deserve a lot more respect in football. Sadly, though, there's no entitlement when it comes to the highs and lows you're given from what happens on the pitch.
In isolation, Tottenham's capitulation within the first nine minutes at St James' Park, nearly 300 miles from home, was just about as bad as it gets as an away fan - not even time to sober up naturally.
But if the Spurs hierarchy were to get their wallets out, the can of worms sprawling up and down the pyramid may never be closed.
Football fans are well aware of the lottery of going to the match, braced for jubilation or despair whenever they walk through the turnstiles. The best thing Tottenham can do is put 11 players out against Manchester United who give every mineral they have to put up a fight.
Refunding Sunday's match ticket - probably the least of fans' worries on a no-doubt expensive and arduous weekend - would be a consolation, but a Spurs team doing everything they can for the badge would mean something much more to supporters' souls.
And that goes for the people upstairs, too.
Mark Jones
Whenever they left St. James' Park on Sunday, be it after 10 minutes of the game, 20, at half-time or having stuck it out to the bitter end, many of the Tottenham fans in attendance would have sighed, hopefully drowned their sorrows with a pint or five, then discussed their travel plans for Liverpool this coming Sunday.
Because going to watch Tottenham away is what they do. Lives are planned around fixtures, and life and work events are put on hold. They do it because they want to do it.
At many clubs the away following is often made up of the same faces, the same people who have garnered enough match credits to keep going week after week. These people know the score, and will keep going in all seasons when results are good or bad.
They don't need to be refunded. They could do with help around travel costs at the beginning of a season if they state that they will be going to a large amount of away games, but then if we're going to get into the realms of things football clubs should do for their fans then we'll be here all day.
Shake it off, get the trains booked and get behind the team again at Anfield. They look like they'll need it.
