Category: England

Aston Villa’s best FA Cup final moment: the decision to have booze delivered to the dressing room win or lose

Arsenal dominated Aston Villa in the FA Cup final, winning 4-0 to lift the trophy for a record 12th time. Though Villa were simply outgunned (puns!) from the start, they put in a dismal performance that made one pre-match decision their best of the day.

According to the day’s official running order, which was shared on Twitter by BBC commentator Guy Mowbray, Villa chose to have beer (eight crates) and champagne delivered to their dressing room after the match win or lose. Arsenal, meanwhile, opted to have their booze shipment sent to the team bus only if they won and the referees had a modest haul of 15 beers sent their way.

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Chelsea fan mistaken for player signs autographs outside the team’s Bangkok hotel

Chelsea are in Bangkok as part of their post-season tour and the Thai fans couldn’t be happier, though some of them aren’t entirely sure what they’re so happy about. Chelsea supporter Ryan Weston had his Thai counterparts thinking he was a member of the squad and signed autographs for them outside the team hotel.

Ryan had a line of people waiting for him to pose for pictures and sign their Chelsea gear, which he did with the number 29 (which isn’t currently used by anyone in the first team squad).

In the Thai fans defense, offseason tours often include new faces, so many of them probably thought he was an up and coming prospect from the youth academy. But still, this is a bit sad. And a bit funny.

Joe Hart and James Milner try baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista

As soon as that pesky Premier League season ended, Manchester City headed to Toronto so they could do something truly important: collect some more sweet, sweet North American friendly cash. Ahead of the match against Toronto FC, Joe Hart, James Milner, and Richard Wright visited the Rogers Center for a tour led by Jose Bautista.

Once the tour was over (and Joe Hart picked up his jaw after hearing that baseball teams play 162 games in 180 days), the footballers tried some batting practice and Hart realized that having a baseball fly in your direction is far scarier than a football.

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Jose Mourinho illustrates the failings of rival clubs in end of season awards speech

Louis van Gaal’s drunken ramblings to conclude Man United’s awards gala was endearing and delightful. So Jose Mourinho decided to go a different route with his speech at Chelsea’s awards event by roasting the teams that fell short of his side’s title winning standard.

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Giddy Frank Lampard and Sad Steven Gerrard both score in their final Premier League match

After years of highlighting and comparing their incompatible brilliance, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have both ended their England careers and their careers in England this season. Both signed off from the Premier League with a goal in their final match before heading to MLS, but the hugely different circumstances in which they scored and emotions on the day sum up their divergent experiences in the Premier League.

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Didier Drogba gets carried off by his teammates in his final match with the club

Prior to Chelsea’s final match of the season, Didier Drogba announced that it would be his last with the club (as a player, at least).

“I want to play for at least one more season and in order to play more football I feel I need to go to another club,” he told Chelsea’s official website. “All the fans know my love for Chelsea and I hope to be back here in the future in another role.”

Drogba started Chelsea’s Premier League finale against Sunderland and, given the occasion, his teammates decided that he should wear the captain’s armband for it. Their show of love and respect for the 37-year-old striker continued when Diego Costa came on for Drogba just before the half hour mark and the other Chelsea players carried the slightly embarrassed Ivorian to a standing ovation.

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