Or so it seems.

A picture appeared on social media last night of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo urging St Albans City fans to forgive John Frendo after the striker missed an FA Cup tie to watch El Clasico in Madrid.

It spread quickly on Twitter with uses sharing the picture along with #forgivefrendo.

Unfortunately, it appears the whole thing was a ruse.

Frendo will just have to earn redemption the good old fashioned way: by scoring goals, starting this Saturday at Bath City.