‘Arrogant’ Chelsea stars under fire for completely ignoring excited young Hull City mascots

Chelsea’s ‘arrogant’ and ‘entitled’ players have come under fire after a group of youngsters unloaded the mascot ahead of their FA Cup tie with Hull City.

The Championship team had lined up excited youngsters near the away dressing room ahead of kick-off at MKM Stadium on Friday.

However, in footage published by the official club account, Chelsea stars, led by captain Reece James, could be seen passing the children.

The boys waited patiently alongside Hull staff for the Premier League side to get off the team bus, but were ignored by all the players in the 31-second clip.

For a moment it looked like Liam Delap was walking towards them, but instead he made a beeline to hug a member of staff from his time at Hull.

The camera then shows veteran players like Robert Sanchez and Joao Pedro continuing to walk past the boys, who are left standing on their own by the end of the footage.

Liam Delap hugged a Hull City staff member but didn’t acknowledge the youngsters either

Joao Pedro also walked past the group of children waiting patiently on Friday.

This sparked outrage from fans on social media who were disgusted by the video, which has now been viewed 2.8 million times.

UK News presenter Michelle Dewberry wrote of X: ‘You should be ashamed of your players treating these young children like this. Instead, you are proud and helpless to share it. Gross.’

Another said: ‘Chelsea manager watched this video and thought it was a great idea! In reality they look like a bunch of entitled divas again.’

A third user described it as a ‘horrible sight’ and added: ‘Not a single Chelsea player acknowledged or high-fived the mascots. ‘Who stole the soul?’

Even Chelsea fans reacted to the video. One poster said: ‘We have a great video of our overpaid, arrogant and self-centered actors walking past a group of children and ignoring them. Great for social content (thumbs up emoji).’

‘It would be nice if they just looked at (the mascots) and had a smile or a look or a wave. Another angrily said: “It means the world to these kids.”

A sixth person complained: ‘None of them actually knew the little children waiting for them to arrive. OK they are Hull City fans but would it hurt them to give them a high five or acknowledge their existence?’

It is unclear whether other members of the Chelsea squad or coaching staff acknowledged the children after the video was shot.

The clip angered fans on social media, who lashed out at the “overpaid” and “entitled” actors

Chelsea won the tie 4-0 with Pedro Neto’s hat-trick and Estevao’s goal. The win means the Blues are set for the fifth round draw on Monday evening.

This was Liam Rosenior’s first return to Hull as Chelsea boss following his sacking by the Tigers in May 2024.

Rosenior said after the game: “It wasn’t an easy match and some of our football was all I wanted to see, but before that the values ​​the team represented tonight made me a very happy coach.”

But Delap’s return to Yorkshire was less fruitful. The 23-year-old footballer was red-faced after he started celebrating what he thought was the opening goal of the match, but the ball did not cross the line.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Delap said: “I swear on my life I almost ran away.” ‘I thought he went in and waited for the referee to blow the whistle. It was stupid on my part, but I thought he was in there.’