Jermain Defoe Gave Wigan Athletic £5,000 - For The Five Goals He Scored Against Them In 9-1 Rout

Jermain Defoe once donated £5,000 to Wigan Athletic when they were in administration because of the five goals he scored against them in a single half of football.

In November 2009 at White Hart Lane, Defoe produced one of the best performances in Premier League history when he hit five in a 9-1 thumping.

Defoe scored his first in the 51st minute and had already secured a hat-trick before the hour mark. He then bagged in the 69th and the 87th, with Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar also getting in on the act.

The former England striker secured the matchball and a whole lot of fantasy football points for anyone who had him in their team.

But years on after being responsible for one of Wigan's darkest days, he helped the Latics out in a big way in August 2020.

Very cheekily, one of the club's fan tweeted Defoe to ask if he could donate some dollar to their crowdfunding campaign to save the club.

He mentioned Defoe's five-goal humiliation and said it would be a fair gesture given the torrid time he gave them 11 years prior.

Image: PA

The tweet read: "Ere @IAmJermainDefoe. Can I be cheeky as f**k and ask you to throw £5000 in here, 1 for each of those 5 goals you scored against Latics in the 9-1 defeat at Tottenham? I think it's the least you could do mate. Thanks in advance. x"

It was wishful thinking but then suddenly a £5,000 donation was pledged by an anonymous individual.

"Nice one @IAmJermainDefoe lad" @elbason wrote.

Defoe essentially paid £1000 for every goal in THAT game.

Wigan had an immensely difficult financial period but after being taken over by new owners, now lie in second-place in League One and are on course for automatic promotion.

Defoe, meanwhile, announced his retirement from the game after 22 years having only just joined Sunderland for a second spell.