Tottenham should not reimburse their fans for horror show vs Newcastle Utd - here’s why

A lot has been written about Tottenham’s 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon in the days since. Then again, if we cannot discuss the extraordinary at great length then what can we talk about? Spurs travelled to the North East knowing that anything other than a positive result would seriously diminish their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League this season. 3,209 fans travelled with them. They did not get a positive result.

Cristian Stellini’s side were five goals behind within 20 minutes, were 6-1 down by the final whistle, and come the following afternoon, the Italian was out of an interim job. There have been grizzly bear attacks in sealed phone boxes that have ended in prettier conditions.

In the aftermath of the aftermath, it was announced that the Spurs dressing room had collectively taken the decision to reimburse those supporters who made the long trip up to Tyneside for the price of their tickets. Given the number of fans who made the journey, and the face value of each individual admission to St. James’ Park, it’s a gesture that could cost the club around £80,000.

A statement from Tottenham’s players said: “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 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.”

It added: “We know this does not change what happened on Sunday and we will give everything to put things right against Manchester United on Thursday evening when, again, your support will mean everything to us. Together - and only together - can we move things forward.”

But here’s the thing - as noble as the deed may be, it sets an unruly precedent. Football support is a lottery; you buy your ticket, you take your chance. Some weeks that might work out for you, others it might not. Make no mistake, Spurs were beyond abysmal on Sunday, but should we be willing to accept that a dire performance is now justification for a total refund? And if so, where exactly is the threshold?

Show me a football fan who hasn’t come away from a match with the nauseous sensation of a small black hole in their chest and a general bafflement as to why they bothered to waste their money on such dross and I’ll show you a liar. It is more common than it is not, and it is the risk we take for this beautiful, stupid game on the understanding that when things do go well it is all worthwhile.

You see, misery is subjective. The disappointment felt by those unfortunate Spurs fans as they boarded the train back down to London must have been galling, but was it really any worse than if they had seen their side lose 1-0 to a last minute penalty. At least this way they were able to get through all five stages of grief before half-time.

In the event of a suckerpunch loss, it is safe to assume that Tottenham would not have taken the decision to offer compensation. And so, the natural rationale we must interrogate is a kind of ethical seesaw of numbers and performative dismay. If a 6-1 defeat is worth a refund, is a 5-0? What if the score is 6-1, but three of the goals come in the last 10 minutes? How about a 7-2, but your team scores first and they run around a lot, looking busy but proving fruitless? There have been hostage situations in downtown bank foyers with clearer rules of etiquette.

Because ultimately, that is what this boils down to; nobody knows because there is no way of knowing. As soon as you dangle the olive branch of financial restitution you open up a can of worms, and each of the worms is holding a Pandora’s Box.

And hey, if nothing else, once the wounds have scabbed and the stinging has resided, those 3,209 Tottenham supporters who did make an ill-judged pilgrimage to the Toon on Sunday will be able to say, “I was there”. Five, ten, even twenty years from now, they will sport that memory - that exclusive scar of abject fraternity - with a certain pride. At the end of the day, why else do we go to the football but to dimly hope that we witness the scribbling of history first-hand?