Swansea City ballboy kicked by Eden Hazard is now one of the UK’s richest people under 35

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Swansea City fans will always look back on the 2012/13 season fondly.

It was their second season in the Premier League, under the management of Michael Laudrup after Brendan Rodgers left for Liverpool at the end of the 2011/12 campaign.

The Dane guided The Swans to an impressive 9th place in the top flight, with new signing Michu scoring an incredible 18 goals in his first Premier League season.

However, their most notable achievement was winning the League Cup, the club’s first ever major piece of silverware.

Swansea beat Bradford City 5-0 in the final, setting a record League Cup final scoreline and qualifying for the Europa League in the process.

Their run to the final was equally memorable, as it included an infamous moment featuring one of the best footballers on the planet at the time.

Defending a 2-0 aggregate lead, Swansea played Chelsea at the Liberty Stadium in the second leg of the League Cup semi final.

On the verge of a first ever major cup final, all they had to do was defend the lead they had established at Stamford Bridge, so they set up to frustrate Chelsea.

That’s where Charlie Morgan came in. A 17-year-old reserve team player, Morgan was tasked with being a ball boy for the tie.

In a bid to waste time, the teenager held onto the ball for a length of time that frustrated Eden Hazard, leading to the Belgian lashing out at the ball boy.

Hazard was sent off as a result and the match ended 0-0, with The Swans making the final.

As for Morgan, though he didn’t make it as a professional footballer for Swansea, he’s ended up having a net worth that even rivals Hazard’s.

Swansea City ball boy Charlie Morgan is one of the richest under 35s in the UK

Just two years after being kicked by Eden Hazard, Charlie Morgan set up a business with his school friend selling premium, gold-filtered vodka.

The business came to be known as Au Vodka and is now a famous brand that sells millions of bottles all over the world.

The 29-year-old and his co-founder Jackson Quinn, 31, are said to be worth £56 million each, rivalling the net worth of many elite footballers.

They now employ nearly 100 people at their headquarters in Swansea, with the business’ annual revenues exceeding £70 million.

The company’s meteoric rise was aided by then Radio 1Xtra presenter Charlie Sloth, who bought a 20% stake in the business.

That opened up the door to mass marketing via musicians, celebrities and influencers who could push the brand to millions of people on social media.

Viral stunts, such as giving away a gold Mercedes, Lamborghini and paying for Jake Paul to get a fake tattoo of the brand, have been crucial to the success of the vodka.

Morgan was listed at 40 in the Sunday Times’ 40 richest people under 40 list, while Au Vodka was named the 5th fastest growing private company by the same publication in 2023.

Eden Hazard reunited with Swansea City ballboy turned entrepreneur Charlie Morgan

Chelsea’s League Cup loss to Swansea City didn’t end up being the last time Eden Hazard crossed paths with then-ballboy Charlie Morgan.

The two reunited in a video promoting Morgan’s thriving business, Au Vodka.

Hazard admitted he didn’t think much of the incident in the moment: “For me, it was just a little thing because I was trying to take the ball, because we were losing.”

“But after the game, people started to say ‘no you have to say this because of this,’ he continued. “My mum was almost crying saying ‘you kicked a boy’. But to be fair I was like ‘I didn’t even touch him, I just wanted the ball.'”

Morgan also added he didn’t even realise it was Hazard who had kicked him until after the game – he assumed it was Juan Mata.

The ballboy-turned-businessman said his short-lived viral fame due to the incident fuelled his drive to start a successful company: “It was a big thing, I had a lot of different things people were asking me to do. But for me, it was always about wanting to try and build something.”

“Build a business, do something so I don’t just get known for being the ball boy,” he said.