A ball boy who was infamously kicked by then Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard has ended up on the Sunday Times Rich List 2022. Watch what happened with Hazard below:
These days 26-year-old Charlie Morgan is worth £40 million thanks to the flashy drinks business he set up with school friend Jackson Quinn.
However, back in 2013 he was making the headlines for a completely different reason, namely being on the receiving end of a kick from Chelsea forward Hazard in a match against Swansea.
Morgan was a ball boy during that time and 80 minutes into the match the then 17-year-old tried to indulge in a bit of timewasting by trying to hold onto the ball and shield it from Chelsea players.
A frustrated Hazard tried to dislodge the ball by kicking it, but since there was a person in the way he only ended up sticking his boot into the teenager's torso.
Accidental or not, kicking a kid wasn't a great look for Hazard and he was given his marching orders with a straight red card which led to a three-game ban.
The match ended 0-0, and since Swansea had won the first leg 2-0 they managed to knock Chelsea out of the League Cup semi-final in a win which paved the way for their 5-0 victory over poor Bradford City.
Hazard went on to be one of Chelsea's best players over the next few years, picking up a couple of Premier League titles, a pair of Europa League wins, the FA Cup and the League Cup, but Morgan has done pretty well for himself too.
He made his money after launching Au Vodka in 2016 with his school friend and celebrities have been eager to get their picture taken with the brand's distinctive golden bottles.
Things really started taking off for Morgan and Quinn in December 2019, as the Sunday Times recounts that they sold 10,000 bottles of black grape vodka, more than they'd shifted over the previous 11 months of the year combined.
Their business got another boost during the pandemic with Morgan saying 'a lot of lockdown parties going on' leading to higher sales.
When they started out they were making 2,000 bottles of vodka a day, higher demand has meant production has surged to 35,000 a day and they sell all over the world.
There are several flavours of Au Vodka on supermarket shelves these days, but the pair of entrepreneurs have admitted that some versions didn't taste great.
Manuka honey and chocolate orange flavours didn't get the thumbs up, while Quinn said a banana flavoured vodka they made was 'particularly disgusting'.
Still, the drink has become a favourite of many celebrities, with former sporting superstars Ronaldinho and Floyd Mayweather among the high profile customers.
Perhaps one day they can even set up a reunion with Eden Hazard, hopefully with less kicking this time.
Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports / Lewys Canton / Au Vodka
Topics: UK News, Football, Chelsea, Food And Drink, News
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