But what began as a lark has ended with gambling investigations and the reported resignation of the much-loved reserve goalkeeper.
In the second half of the fixture, after Arsenal striker Theo Walcott put the Gunners up 2-0 and Sutton had exhausted its substitutions, cameras caught Shaw on the sideline unabashedly — enthusiastically even — scarfing down what the commentators said was a pie.
Shaw would later clarify on Twitter that it was a pasty, not a pie. Meat and potato, to be exact. (A pasty is a baked pastry similar to, and in some cases, indistinguishable from, a pie. It has nothing — repeat, nothing — to do with strip clubs or tassels.)
Of course, none of this should’ve caught anyone off guard. Shaw had already made a trip to the bar at halftime, where a BBC reporter captured him hanging out with fans.
It was all fun and games until England’s Football Association and the UK’s Gambling Commission stepped in.
In a statement sent to CNN, an FA spokesman said, “We are investigating to establish whether there has been any breach of The FA rules relating to betting.”
The Gambling Commission also launched a probe, its enforcement and intelligence director Richard Watson said in a statement.
“Integrity in sport is not a joke and we have opened an investigation to establish exactly what happened. As part of that we’ll be looking into any irregularity in the betting market and establishing whether the operator has met its (license) requirement to conduct its business with integrity,” he said.
Hold on, bets on pie eating???
Yup, pie eating.
So when the big fellow began chowing down, the betting service had to pay up. To the tune of at least £10,000 (around $12,500), according to a Sun Bets tweet.
“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,'” he said. “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 halftime from the kitchen. I had it all prepared and ready to go. It was meat and potato. … 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,” he added.
Strict rules on gambling
Asked if he knew anyone who placed a wager, Shaw replied, “I think there were a few people. Obviously, we are not allowed to bet. I think a few of the mates and a few of the fans.”
On Tuesday morning, it seemed like the hullabaloo would blow over. Tales of Shaw’s joviality spread widely, and the 45-year-old goalkeeper seemed to be enjoying the spotlight during an appearance on “Good Morning Britain.”
Shaw, who also serves as Sutton”s goalkeeping coach and stadium caretaker, laughed along with the talk show hosts as they showed a picture of him vacuuming Gander Green Lane’s field turf in slippers ahead of the Arsenal match.
“We realized the implications of what had happened, with regards to the FA and the Gambling Commission, and unfortunately Wayne has resigned from his position on the back of that,” Doswell said.
