Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere mocked rivals Tottenham in a foul-mouthed outburst during the FA Cup winners’ victory parade on Sunday.
Many thousands of Arsenal fans had braved the rain to cheer the squad as they went on open-top buses from the Emirates Stadium to Islington Town Hall, celebrating the club’s record 12th FA Cup victory after successfully retaining the trophy with a 4-0 win over Aston Villa at Wembley.
The damp conditions had not put off any of the Gunners faithful from waiting patiently for several hours for the team’s return to the Emirates Stadium, where skipper Mikel Arteta and vice-captain Per Mertesacker presented the FA Cup on stage.
As the players, who were pictured celebrating in London after their victory on Saturday, revelled in the atmosphere, midfielder Wilshere took to the microphone, in a repeat of a scenario from 12 months ago.
The 23-year-old England international, who has come through the youth ranks at Arsenal, started a chant mocking local rivals Tottenham, asking the crowd: “I have one question, and one question only: what do we think of Tottenham?” before swearing, then joining in as the crowd sang back: “We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham … we are the Tottenham haters.”
Tottenham reached the League Cup final where they lost to Chelsea and went on to finish fifth in the Premier League, below Arsenal once more.
Wilshere then continued with another Arsenal song, as supporters joined in the shouts of, “It has happened again, Tottenham Hotspur, it has happened again”.
The microphone was then taken off Wilshere, but he retrieved it, saying: “We have got one more.”
As Wilshire started another chant aimed at Spurs, Arsenal broke off from the live broadcast on their in-house media channel. The studio presenter immediately apologised for any offence caused by the player’s remarks.
Although not broadcast, the Arsenal supporters responded with chants of “Super Jack Wilshere”.
It remains to be seen whether Wilshere will face any action from the Football Association for his outburst.
Wilshere came off the bench after 77 minutes against Villa and was involved in the goal for Olivier Giroud in stoppage time, as the Gunners recorded the biggest FA Cup final winning margin in more than 20 years.
