Crewe Alexandra boss Dave Artell says his players will refund the club's fans who travelled to Essex for their 6-0 humiliation at Colchester on Tuesday night.
Crewe had a 6-0 win of their own on the opening day of the season against Morcambe but that remains their only win and they were on the wrong side of the scoreline on Tuesday.
The Railwaymen started their 2018-19 campaign with a 6-0 win at home to Morecambe, but that is their only success so far this season and Tuesday night proved a forgettable one for Artell's side.
They conceded three goals in each half and Artell said their performance had been "utterly unacceptable" before putting the onus on his players to refund supporters.
Players to pay for embarrassing defeat
"It was embarrassing and I am not going to dress anything up," Artell said.
"We were awful and we will sort the fans out. The players will pay out of their own pockets for their match tickets because they deserve great credit for coming down here to support us.
"We will refund them because they do not deserve to pay for that. It isn't a great gesture, it's the minimum requirement.
"They will be in tomorrow [Wednesday] morning regardless of what time we get back, 3am whatever. I will be the first at the gate and they cannot be a minute late.
"That performance is unacceptable in every way and if I could have subbed nine of them at half-time I would have.
"Harry Pickering is 19 years old, he has given everything he had and gave it a real good go and has left the pitch upset because he is injured and cannot carry on, that is what it's about. Some of the others can learn from him.
"It is the worst I've ever felt as a manager by a long way."
