THOUSANDS turned out to welcome home the Champions
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THOUSANDS of jubilant Man United fans turned out to welcome the team home last night as they returned in triumph with the Champions League trophy.
Supporters crammed into Manchester Airport hoping to catch a glimpse of the Moscow marvels. Hordes of fans lined the roof and top levels of the airport car park, while baggage handlers and other workers turned trucks and carts into makeshift vantage points.
The moment they had waited for all day finally came at 9.40pm when Ryan Giggs was first off the plane carrying the giant cup. He was followed by manager Sir Alex Ferguson and skipper Rio Ferdinand, clutching the Premier League trophy claimed earlier this month.
The team posed on the steps and did a victory jig for the cameras. And last night there was growing clamour for United to be given a full-blown victory parade through Manchester. A planned bus tour was axed after the trouble caused by Rangers fans after the UEFA Cup Final in the city last week.
Wayne Rooney’s fiancée Coleen McLoughlin and the rest of the WAGs waited until the players had gone before they left the plane. Reds legend Sir Bobby Charlton beamed broadly as he made his way through the airport.
The players then boarded a team bus to continue their homeward journey. The bus needed a police escort as it inched its way through huge crowds of chanting fans. Rooney and goal hero Cristiano Ronaldo smiled and waved as they sat on the upper deck with the gleaming trophy between them.
The airport arrivals hall had echoed all day to chants of "Champions". Fan Bob James, 27, said: "We just had to get here to give them a welcome." Sheila Worsley, 28, added: "I just wanted to be part of it because the atmosphere is great."
Ferdinand had earlier kept the victory bash going at 8.20AM — by urging pals: "Where are you going? The party’s just getting started!" The thrilled stars celebrated so hard yesterday that staff at their Moscow hotel struggled to keep up.
And the astonishing knees-up was STILL going strong at 10am. Some of the double-winning players who jetted home last night had not slept for 48 hours. The group hired a conference suite to toast their success with champagne and lager — then danced until dawn.
Waitress Marina Konkova, 19, told how skipper Rio stunned workers with his 8.20 party plea to defender John O’Shea. She said: "We couldn’t believe the players’ energy. They just didn’t stop. And the wives and girlfriends were having a great time, too. The players were dancing — and kept singing We Are The Champions. "It was a wonderful night. They sang songs and were very funny on the dance floor. I worked all night and still haven’t been to bed, but it was lovely to be part of it."
Exhausted O’Shea said later: "We didn’t go to bed. On a scale of one to ten, this was an 11!" AROUND 100 holidaymakers who flew into Manchester from Cyprus at 11pm say they waited two hours for luggage — as bag handlers were celebrating Utd’s win.
THE cup final drew the biggest TV audience of the year — 14.6million tuning into ITV’s coverage during the penalty shootout and a further two million watching on Sky.
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Haha, fantastic la. Too bad because of Rangers fans we got no victory parade.
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Originally posted by zocoss:
The moment they had waited for all day finally came at 9.40pm when Ryan Giggs was first off the plane carrying the giant cup. He was followed by manager Sir Alex Ferguson and skipper Rio Ferdinand, clutching the Premier League trophy claimed earlier this month.
