Zimpapers Logo

Wayne Shaw eats a pie on the substitutes’ bench during Monday night’s FA Cup tie against Arsenal

The FA and Gambling Commission have said they will investigate a potential breach of betting rules after Sutton United reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw ate a pie on the substitutes’ bench during Monday night’s FA Cup tie against Arsenal.

The 46-year-old, known as the “roly-poly goalie,” admitted after the non-league side’s 2-0 loss that he knew a bookmaker was offering odds of 8-1 on him being seen eating during the match at Gander Green Lane, which was shown live on BBC One.

With Sun Bets tweeting that they had paid out a “five-figure sum” on the bet, the FA will now launch an inquiry to determine whether Shaw has breached its gambling regulations.

An FA spokesperson said: “We are investigating to establish whether there has been any breach of The FA rules relating to betting.”

The Gambling Commission announced earlier yesterday it would be conducting its own investigation into whether Sun Bets — which sponsored Sutton for the cup clash — had breached its licence requirement by offering such a bet in the first instance.

“Integrity in sport is not a joke and we have opened an investigation to establish exactly what happened,’’ Richard Watson, the commission’s enforcement and intelligence director, said in a statement.

“As part of that we’ll be looking into any irregularity in the betting market and establishing whether the operator has met its licence requirement to conduct its business with integrity.’’

Shaw ate the pie after all three substitutions had been made, which meant there was no longer any prospect of him featuring.

He said after the match that he believes some people placed money on the 8-1 on offer for him to be shown eating a pie in the dugout.

Shaw had appeared on Good Morning Britain yesterday morning and the 23-stone goalkeeper told host Piers Morgan: “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 have eaten nothing all day so I might give it a go later on.’ As I say Sun Bet had me 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.

“I went and got it at half-time from the kitchen, I had it all prepared and ready to go. It was meat and potato.

“I think there were a few people [who backed it]. Obviously we are not allowed to bet.

“I think [it was] a few of the mates and a few of the fans. It was just a bit of banter for them. It is something to make the occasion as well and you can look back and say it was part of it and we got our ticket money back.”

Speaking on BBC 5 Live, Sutton chairman Bruce Elliott said: “If you knew the roly-poly goalkeeper you probably wouldn’t be very surprised, but Wayne is a top man.

“I didn’t know anything about it. He has got himself in the papers again and the fame obviously has gone to his head a little bit, but we will soon bring him back down to earth, don’t worry about that.”

Manager Paul Doswell, who employs Shaw as part of his coaching team, said: “Wayne has become a global superstar on the back of being 20st.

“He’s made that a chance to get more media coverage off the back of it. It wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t think it shows us in the best light.”

— ESPNFC.