Chapter 724: Victory Parade
The celebrations continued in the locker room with everyone wearing the Uventus badge joining in. Since this match was the last match they would be playing this season, the constraints on the type of food the players could consume disappeared with the final whistle and many players had some less than healthy drinks in their hands as they jumped around the dressing room, singing and dancing while Mckennie turn himself into the mini party’s DJ.
Picking a glass of soymilk from his bag, Jason also joined the celebrations and burst out some dancing moves before the other players took over.
Knowing that this might very well be his last game with the team, he didn’t rush to get into the bathroom and clean up and allowed himself to soak in the moment.
The celebrations in the locker room went on for a little less than an hour, but the players soon began cleaning up and preparing to leave as they knew that this was just a pre-celebration.
There would be more celebrations to come when they got back to Turin the next day and they were quite looking forward to it.
Cleaning up, they left the stadium in a much better mood than they arrived and their bus took them back to their hotels where they spent the night.
Early the next morning, the players left their hotel and quickly boarded the plane back to Turin, prepared for a day with a full schedule ahead of them.
The victory parade was set for today as the players had already spent a week of their holiday waiting back for the Champions League finals, so the team wanted to finish things fast and release the players for their holidays as they would have to back by July for the beginning of pre-season activities.
The players also agreed with this and had even pushed forward for it, so the victory parade was scheduled for today and the club’s award ceremony for the players was to be tomorrow.
Less than two hours after boarding their plane in Porto, the Uventus team landed back in Turin and right from the airport was where the parade began.
The bus that arrived to pick up the players was an open-top bus and the other trophies they had won earlier were all put on display for the players and the fans who were at the airport to welcome the players back.
There was actually an already set route for the parade and the airport was merely the starting point.
The Uventus players climbed onto the open top of the bus, immediately entering a celebration mode as they saw the huge crowd of fans who had come around.
Due to the chaotic scene and the fact that the parade itself was a moving bus, the players were not easily allowed direct interaction with the fans and there were security all along the roads and around the bus to prevent the fans from getting in the way of the bus or getting too close.
It was going to be mostly up to the players to interact with the fans if they wanted, but otherwise, it would be sprayed champagne, thrown scarves and jerseys and simply being part of the parade.
The players knew it and the fans understood it, and they would enjoy every minute of it.
From the airport, the bus began heading around Turin, driving through main squares, monumental places and fan-hotspots while the players celebrated with the fans from on top of the bus.
Raising the trophies constantly, spraying champagne all around and throwing prepared scarves and jerseys at the fans, the parade was full of activity and cheers from the players all the way.
Some players leaned over to hand five some of the fans while some of the more extroverted players got off the bus to take selfies with the fans and even signing a few autographs.
Some scarves were laid at monumental locations as the parade went on.
From Corso Regina Margherita to Piazza Castello to Piazza San Carlo before turning towards the stadium where the final parts of the parade would take place.
Despite his impending departure which should have put a dampener on his celebrations, Jason had tried to be one of the more expressive fans throughout the parade.
He knew he was leaving and might not be returning, but still, he didn’t want to leave Uventus looking sad or feeling like he had been holding back.
He had been at two clubs so far and without a doubt he had enjoyed his time in Uventus more than his time in Oporto, even though it had been relatively shorter.
Oporto was his first club and he had many memories there, but many of the dynamics in the squad had not really let him fit in comfortably, so apart from his close friends on the team, he wasn’t really all that close with the others.
His time at Uventus was different as this place was almost like a family filled with all sorts of weird people who loved each other and could settle on one single goal that was winning and the fans had been a joy to play for and were very passionate.
That was not to say that the Oporto fans were lacking. They were probably the only thing he would miss about Oporto in the years to come, but overall, he had enjoyed his time at Uventus a lot more than at Oporto.
There were many reasons for it and he was definitely happy to be celebrating these achievements with them.
He might be leaving Turin soon, but that was not going to think about that today. Today was strictly for celebrating with the fans.
So he sprayed champagne at the fans, threw them some signed scarves and jerseys and even got down from the bus to take pictures with some of them and high fived many others.
By the time the bus was arriving back at the Allianz stadium for the final part of the parade, he was quite exhausted.
At the stadium, a platform had been set up in the middle of the field with the trophies the team had claimed that season on display and the final part of the parade began.
Each player was individually called out to the podium, giving every player the chance to receive direct applause from the fans as they were called out.
As each player’s name was called, they walked out of the tunnel and onto the pitch, receiving flamboyant applause from all the fans as they moved up to join the rest of their teammates for the final celebrations.
The final celebrations would entail lifting the trophies at their own stadium, taking group pictures and some other simple celebrations.
Before the players had even begun to be called out, certain musicians who had been around to perform entertained the crowd while the cameras rolled in the tunnels, capturing all sorts of moments to be used later in a documentary for the fans.
Soon, the players began to be called out one by one and when it was finally Jason’s turn, he heard his name ring loudly from the speakers.
{Jersey number 17}
{JASON BOLU!!!}