‘I was sent off and suspended for what I did at Chelsea – it nearly made my mum cry’

One Chelsea icon will be representing the Blues in a legend’s clash this weekend but will always be remembered for an unsavoury incident

Eden Hazard will be among the Chelsea heroes lining up for a legends clash against Liverpool on Saturday. And, while there’s no denying his iconic status with the Blues, there is one blight on his record, and it’s an incident that almost brought the Belgian star’s mum to tears.

The infamous event occurred in 2013 as Chelsea were embroiled in a tense League Cup semi-final second leg with Swansea City. The home side were firmly holding on to 2-0 lead from the first leg when ball boy Charlie Morgan, then 17, attempted to keep the ball in the 80th minute by laying on it after the ball went out of play.

As Hazard hastily struggled to unhook the ball out of Morgan’s arms, he appeared to kick the ball boy. Hazard was then swiftly sent off by referee Chris Foy.

In 2024, Hazard, now 34, and Morgan sat down for a chat about the incident, during which the ex-Real Madrid star opened up how his family reacted to his moment of madness.

Hazard said: “My mum was like almost crying. She was like, ‘You kick a boy’. I was like, ‘No I didn’t even touch him I just wanted the ball'”.

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Morgan, who has since gone on to build a Vodka empire through his brand AU Vodka, said: “I left that game thinking this was gonna be a small thing. I was quite good friends with a lot of the Swans players at that time.

“There was like a big night out celebrating. Obviously we were in the finals. I get home at like 5.30pm so it was like a super late night right.”

He continued: “Mum has a phone call at 6am. The front door is on ITV News and Sky Sports News. Luckily I was home 30 minutes before that so they didn’t see anything. For like a month it was like all the newspapers outside my house like Fox News, Sky News, the paparazzi etc.”

Hazard joked: “You became famous”. Although it stained his Chelsea copybook somewhat, Hazard also revealed that the red card he received for his part in the incident was actually a good thing for him.

Speaking to ex-team-mate John Obi Mikel on the Obi One podcast, Hazard claimed his dismissal came at the perfect time as his wife Natacha was about to give birth.

Speaking on if felt bad for his coming-together with Morgan, Hazard said: “No, not at all because after that game I came back home – saying to myself, “this guy is just staying on the ball and I just tried to kick the ball”, and then I get a red card?

“The funny story is my wife was just pregnant and the baby was coming now – that day. So me? Getting the red card? Three games out? Perfect. That’s the reality. Perfect holiday, thank you guys!”

However, Hazard insisted that his kick was not intentional, claiming it was just an act of desperation as he tried to thrust Chelsea back into the tie.

“They’re going to think I did it on purpose, but not at all,” he added. “It’s a bit like when you play on the street. Someone is on the ball? ‘Hey, give me the ball man'”.

Hazard signed for Chelsea from Lille in June 2012 for £32million. He went on to win two Premier League titles, the FA and League Cup and two Europa League titles. He signed for Real Madrid for a reported £130m in June 2019 and won the Champions League in 2022. Hazard retired from football in 2023.

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