A decade after a touchline incident turned him into one of English football’s most recognisable ball boys, Charlie Morgan has completed a very different kind of deal: the former teenager has sold Au Vodka, the drinks company he co-founded, for £300 million, reported as €350 million.
SEO Title: Former Chelsea Ball Boy Charlie Morgan Sells Au Vodka for €350m
SEO Description: Charlie Morgan, remembered for Eden Hazard’s 2013 red card, has sold Au Vodka for €350 million after founding the brand with Jackson Quinn.
Charlie Morgan’s €350m business exit
Morgan was 17 when he became an unlikely figure in a Chelsea match involving Eden Hazard in 2013. The Belgian, then playing in Chelsea’s midfield, was sent off after kicking the ball boy during a confrontation over the ball.
The episode unfolded as Morgan attempted to run down the clock rather than return the ball promptly. Hazard reacted angrily and received a red card, while footage of the moment travelled quickly around the football world.
- Morgan was 17 at the time of the 2013 incident.
- Hazard was dismissed after kicking the ball boy.
- Two years later, Morgan launched Au Vodka with his friend Jackson Quinn.
- The pair have now sold the company in a deal valued at €350 million, or £300 million.
From a notorious night to a brand partnership
Rather than allowing the old football incident to define him, Morgan later brought Hazard into the orbit of his business. The former Chelsea player was recruited to promote Au Vodka, linking the brand to an episode that had once brought both men unwanted attention.
Morgan recalled that he did not initially know who had kicked him. “The strange thing was that, until I got into the dressing room, I thought it had been Juan Mata,” he said.
Hazard, looking back on the incident, said his mother was close to tears when she learned what had happened.
A long road from the touchline
The sale closes an extraordinary chapter for Morgan and Quinn. What began as a vodka venture formed two years after Morgan’s viral moment has become a business valued in the hundreds of millions of euros, with Hazard himself eventually helping to promote the company.
