Arsenal planned cup party in March!
ARSENAL started planning their Europa League victory parade at the beginning of March — before they had even reached the quarter-finals. Emails seen by Sportsmail about a potential bus parade were exchanged between the north London club and Islington Council the day before Unai Emery’s team faced Rennes away in the last-16 stage, a match they lost 3-1. An email from Arsenal — who qualified for the final last Thursday — on March 6 marked ‘Europa League final’ said: ‘Whilst there is still a long way to go and much to plan, in principle, could you support an event’. Internal emails within Islington Council said: ‘Arsenal are doing some early planning and have asked whether we would be supportive of a parade IF they won…’ The following day, on March 7, a member of staff at the council responded to Arsenal to agree to a parade. Some content of the exchanges, which were released under the Freedom of Information Act, has been redacted for confidentiality reasons. Arsenal have spent the last two seasons in the Europa League, following a 20-year unbroken spell in the Champions League. Lifting the trophy on May 29 is now their only chance of returning to the top tier of European football next season, after they finished fifth in the Premier League. An Arsenal spokesperson said: ‘We are all excited to be in the UEFA Europa League Final and obviously have to make all the necessary preparations to celebrate with our fans should we lift the trophy.’