The legend of Wayne Shaw is no more.
[ MORE: Shaw investigated for stunt ]
On Tuesday, less than 24 hours after non-league club Sutton United met Arsenal in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Shaw resigned as their goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach.
Shaw, 46, caused headlines around the world when the 280-pound goalkeeper was shown on TV eating a pie during the second half of Sutton’s 2-0 defeat to the Premier League side.
Now, it appears that the incident was something more sinister.
Both the FA and the UK Gambling Commission are investigating the stunt as bookmakers Sun Bets had offered 8-1 odds for Shaw to eat a pie during the game. Shaw had admitted he knew about the bet and thought he would do it for “a bit of banter” adding that “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’ve eaten nothing all day, so I might give it a go later on.’”
Speaking to Sky Sports on Tuesday a sad and disappointed Sutton manager, Paul Doswell, explained that Shaw offered his resignation and has left the club.
Doswell and Shaw know each other from their time throughout the non-league scene as they also worked together at Eastleigh in the past and are great friends.
✅ Back-up keeper
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 20, 2017
✅ All three subs made
✅ Time for a pie
Tuck in, Wayne Shaw! #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/gjQWLzugVx
“I’m devastated,” Doswell said. “The chairman is devastated. I’m not going to try and hide the fact that we are all very emotional about it. I’ve spoken to Wayne on the phone this afternoon and the guy is in tears, crying down the phone. It is a very very sad situation. It is hard to talk about the positives today on the back of what has happened because someone has lost their job because of this. The club cannot be seen to accept that situation.
“Ian Baird [team manager] and myself try and run the most professional non-league club we can be, we’ve always said that. To then find out someone has been eating a pie, it may be funny to some people but it shows me in a bad light, Ian in a bad light and the club in bad light. Then to find out it was done with regards to some 8-1 bet, obviously that exacerbated the problem, really. The chairman was very clear with me this morning on how he felt and I back the chairman 100 percent.”
In Sutton’s finest moment which saw the club mentioned around the world as the fifth-tier team knocked out AFC Wimbledon and Leeds United on their way to their last 16, Shaw’s resignation has marked a sad end to their fairytale FA Cup run.