David Wheater has saved you all a seat at The Riverside

Save for the surprise victory over Arsenal last weekend, life for Middlesbrough fans has been a little depressing of late. Results have been poor, playing style has been soul-destroyingly dull and Gareth Southgate has been fretting over his tenure for some time. As a result, attendances have started to slide.

To combat this loss of revenue, the Premier League club have started to promote half season tickets. They aren’t the only club doing it – Fulham, for example, frequently advertise their half season tickets as a chance to see the ‘big four’ in the London press.

The Northeastern side, however, have gone a step further with a slick black and white YouTube video (because nothing speaks to the kids like a YouTube video). It features David Wheater, who gives an emotive speech about the twelfth man in the stands. Yet just as the tears begin to well, an air of desperation sets in. “I’ve even saved you a seat,” begs the defender looking at the empty seat next to him. A Boro fan would have to have a heart of stone to resist those puppy dog eyes.

[source: TheOffside]