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Millions of football fans hero-worship our top players but their loyalty is not always rewarded.

The Daily Mirror decided to find out if any of the Premier League’s stars still have time for fans, who pay up to £2,000 a year for a season ticket.

We wrote to three players at each of the league’s 20 clubs asking for their autograph. We received replies from just 18 of the 60.

Hand-written letters marked “personal” were sent to the stars at their respective stadiums two months ago, all containing envelopes with postage paid for an easy reply.

Each letter read: “I love watching you play and would be really pleased if you could send me your autograph. I have written my address on a stamped addressed envelope so you can send it back to me. Thanks a lot and good luck this season.”

Among the 70% we heard nothing from were Manchester City’s stars Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and skipper Vincent Kompany.

There was also no response from Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, Manchester Utd’s £59.7million record buy Angel Di Maria, Arsenal’s England star Danny Welbeck and Spurs’ striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

Has a footballer ever sent you a letter or autograph? Tell us about it via the form at the bottom of this article

(Image: PA)

Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation which represents more than 500,000 fans, said: “It’s a great pity that such a large proportion of top flight players appear to have ignored this request.

“It shows the increasing distance between star players and ordinary fans which is a shame and doesn’t reflect well on the players.

“The fact that some clubs and some players responded positively and quickly shows they could all do it if they wished to.

“This kind of memorabilia means a great deal to ordinary fans – ­particularly the youngsters who are the next generation of fans.”

Although there is no guarantee all players received our letters, some stars came up trumps.

Man Utd’s Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, Stoke City goalie Asmir Begovic and Chelsea’s John Terry all sent signed photos.

Three Everton players – Romelu Lukaku, Leighton Baines and Tim Howard – were the first to send signed photos.

Arsenal sent big glossy signed pictures of Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil, along with some ­information about the club.

We also received autographed photos from Swansea captain Ashley Williams, Spurs’ Christian Eriksen and Kyle Walker, West Brom’s Joleon Lescott, Aston Villa’s Ron Vlaar, ­Newcastle’s Fabricio Coloccini and, via ­Liverpool’s website, ones of Steven Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli.

We heard nothing from players at West Ham, Hull City, ­Southampton, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Leicester, QPR and Burnley.

A Man City club spokesman said there may have been a minor disruption to personal mail as players and staff have recently­relocated.

He said: “The club hold regular public signing events and monthly private sessions for players to sign items sent in via post.”

poll loading Should Premier League footballers have more time for fans? 3000+ VOTES SO FAR Yes - football without fans is nothing No - they have enough on their plates

Big names who passed on reply