Did Liam Ridgewell never think for a second that this photo would somehow come back to haunt him in some way?
The West Brom defender is going to have an awful lot of explaining to do after The Sun published a photo in this morning’s paper of Ridgewell wiping his behind with a fistful of £20 notes, with another handful of them scattered around his bathroom floor.
Pic via The Sun
It was sent into the red-top by a West Brom fan who unsurprisingly asked not to be named, but it’s fair to say that Ridgewell will have a good idea of who took the photo in the first place before it eventually ended up in the public domain.
Who took the photo is not the issue here, of course, more that Ridgewell, who reportedly earns £20,000 a week, was stupid enough to have it taken in the first place and on becoming aware of it going public, he hastily apologised.
“The photo was taken in the privacy of my home around eight months ago as a joke to wind up a mate, who I had just won a personal bet with,” Ridgewell said.
“I only intended him to see the photo but now it’s public, I can understand how it will be viewed. I am sorry for any offence it causes.”
A West Brom spokesman added: “This is a private issue for Liam that has become public.
“It does not put the club in a good light and we will deal with the matter internally. Since Liam joined us 11 months ago, his conduct on club duty has been exemplary.”
According to The Sun, a number of West Brom fans got wind – pardon the unfortunate pun – of the photo yesterday and were understandably not impressed that a player who they pay good money to go and see and who earns more in a week than many of them would in a year would flaunt it in such a disgusting manner.
It’s a picture that sums up what a lot of people think is wrong with modern day football and the players that play the game – i.e. that they have more money than sense – and it’s safe to say that Ridgewell won’t be able to flush this image from his memory for quite some time.
Talk about making an ass of himself.
