Celestine Babayaro spent eight years at Chelsea before sealing a move to Newcastle in 2005, but he was left red-faced after a request from Jose Mourinho on the final day of the season
Jose Mourinho asked Celestine Babayaro to join in Chelsea’s guard of honour – despite the fact that he was with Newcastle United at the time.
The ex-Blues defender, who had an eight-year spell at Stamford Bridge after signing in 1997 from Anderlecht, saw limited action towards the end of his Chelsea tenure. He made just five appearances under Mourinho during the first six months of the Portuguese’s command in west London.
Babayaro waved goodbye to west London in January 2005, transferring to Newcastle. While Chelsea clinched the league title, the former Nigeria international missed out on the Premier League medal as he fell short of the necessary 10 appearances, having played only four times.
Yet, despite not sharing in the glory of being a recognised league champion with the Blues, Mourinho did not overlook Babayaro’s past efforts when Chelsea visited St. James’ Park on the final day of the season.
Speaking at the Ladbrokes’ Gaffer event, he revealed that Mourinho held him in such esteem that he wanted the Nigerian to line up with his old Chelsea team-mates for 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 said.
“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.
“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.”
After participating in the guard of honour, Babayaro confessed that while his post-match experience wasn’t the greatest, he retains a solid connection with Mourinho to this day. He added (via Football London): “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.”
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