Southampton‘s players and coaching staff have agreed to donate a day’s wages to charity following their humiliating 9-0 Premier League defeat to Leicester City.
Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy both scored hat-tricks at St Mary’s Stadium on Friday, while Ben Chilwell, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison were also on target in the record win.
The defeat was Southampton’s heaviest ever in all competitions and was the biggest victory recorded by an away side in an English top-flight league match in the 131-year history of the Football League.
Southampton ended the weekend in the Premier League’s bottom three and their first-team members have taken steps to make amends with supporters.
The south coast club announced on their official website on Sunday that all first-team members will donate Friday’s wages to Saints Foundation, which works within the community to transform the lives of adults and children through the use of sport.
Southampton are back in action on Tuesday with a trip to Manchester City in the EFL Cup and return to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday for their next Premier League outing.
Under pressure Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has declared his team must now respond on the pitch ahead of two crunch games for the club.
“After this, no more from us, no more messages – the time for that is over,” Hasenhuttl said.
“Our only focus is working towards Manchester City. This is where we must direct our entire energy, and this is what we owe to our fans.”
The club’s skipper Peirre-Emile Hojbjerg had a similar message after speaking following the heavy defeat.
“The people that come to support us every week, who give us love…these are the people you play for,” he said.
“They have every right to be angry, to be disappointed, to be embarrassed. We need to show that they deserve better.
“The only thing that matters now is what we do going forward and we can never let something like this happen again. I can only apologise. It’s very embarrassing and it’s very difficult for the whole team and we are the ones to blame. You need to blame us, we need to take it.”
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