Jose Mourinho requested Celestine Babayaro to take part in Chelsea‘s guard of honour – despite being a Newcastle player at the time.
The former defender spent eight years at Stamford Bridge after joining the club in 1997 from Anderlecht. During the end of his time at Chelsea, the Nigerian played sparingly as he appeared just five times for the club during the first six months of Mourinho’s reign in west London.
Babayaro decided to call time on his Chelsea career in the 2005 January transfer window as he secured a move to the Magpies. While his former side ended up winning the league, he was ineligible for a Premier League medal due to playing just four games, six less than the required 10.
Despite not being hailed as a title winner with the club he’d been part of for close to a decade, his contributions weren’t forgotten by Mourinho when Chelsea travelled to St. James’ Park on the last day of the season.
Speaking at the launch of Ladbrokes’ Gaffer, Babayaro revealed that the Portuguese boss rated him so highly that he wanted him to walk out with his former team-mates to receive a guard of honour. “When I think of standout memories with Jose, I actually think about my move to Newcastle, and how he still played a part in my career, despite me not playing for the club anymore,” he explained.
“So, I signed for Newcastle in January 2005, and we played Chelsea, who were champions, on the last day of the season, at home. Because they’d already won the league, we had to head out of the tunnel first and give them a guard of honour, which is obviously what you do for the champions.
(Image: Getty Images)
“I was in the tunnel with my Newcastle team-mates, and Jose tapped me on the shoulder, ‘Celestine, you know you won the league with us? I know you’re a Newcastle player now, but can you walk out with the lads?’
“Up until that moment, I didn’t think for a second about it. It was only when Jose tapped me that I decided to do it, and my God, I got so much stick for doing that. I did it because he asked me to! So, I joined the Chelsea line-up and walked out with them.”
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Babayaro admitted he didn’t have the greatest of post-match experiences which ended 1-1 after engaging in the guard of honour but revealed that continues to maintain a strong relationship with Mourinho to this day.
“My team-mates went out, did the guard of honour, and the fans are out there, looking at the Chelsea team, and I’m a part of it – oh my God… I did not have a good time after that match!
“We still have a great relationship today; he’s the manager of Fenerbahce now – I send him messages every so often, and he replies. He’s been a great inspiration to me. I didn’t play much under him, because it was in my latter stages with the club, where I was getting injured so much. But I have a really good relationship with him.”
