An Oldham ice cream man has served Manchester City striker Erling Haaland as the team celebrated its historic treble.
Ice cream man Ejaz Azam served the player, who was wearing a gold tracksuit, at a City parade afterparty on Monday, June 12.
The team was crowned UEFA Champions League winners after a 1-0 win over Inter in Istanbul.
The victory completed a historic treble, with the crown added to the team’s Premier League and FA Cup successes.
To celebrate Manchester City took over Manchester city centre on Monday night with a open-top bus parade.
Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox.
Afterward, players and VIPs went to Depot Mayfield to let off some steam.
Ejaz was invited to the event to serve ice cream from his Mr Whippy Ice Cream van.
From Clarksfield, Ejaz usually does his route in the Chadderton and Firwood Park areas.
However, the Mr Whippy van is also available to hire for events, such as parties or weddings.
Ejaz was told to bring his van inside the Depot Mayfield venue for the special event.
Ejaz said: “They booked me about a week ago for the celebration. I went there and gave them about 200 to 300 ice creams. Then Haaland came to me, and he goes ‘I want slush, but only the blue one’.
“Then he goes, ‘let me come in’ and I go ‘yeah, come in’.
“He came in and he served ice cream and slush to 10 to 15 people, and then he made his own ice cream with slush on top of it and he said my ice cream was ‘unbelievable’.”
Ejaz has been serving ice cream in Oldham for eight years, and he did not expect to be serving his treats to a footballing legend.
Follow The Oldham Times on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube.
He continued: “I was not expecting him to come to me and have ice cream. From the City players I only knew him, only one person I knew. He’s a good, good player, and when he came to me I was closed.
“I was booked until 11pm, but there were loads of people, so I wasn’t able to get out, so they made me stop on the spot where I was.
“He came to me about 12.30, I didn’t see him at first so I said ‘no, no I’m closed, I’m not serving anymore’.
“There was somebody else with him and he went ‘Are you not serving Haaland, City player?’
“I go ‘oh no no, no, no, come on, it’s open for you 24/7, you can come any time.
“He went ‘no, it’s OK if you’re closed, don’t worry’, but I said ‘no I’m open for you, don’t worry man’.
“I opened the serving window for him, and he asked me for slush, and then he goes ‘you know what, let me come in’
“I said ‘you’re most welcome, come in’ and he started serving customers, and then he made his own slush with ice cream on top’.
“I was really happy, to be honest, my God. Really, really. I got appreciated, I got big respect yesterday (Tuesday).”
On his ice cream round the following day, Ejaz received much more attention than usual after he shared a picture of him and the player on Facebook.
He said: “Normally I finish at 8pm, but yesterday I finished at 10pm, because every single customer wanted to speak to me, everyone wanted to come to me and say hello.
“People who never have ice cream came to see me, I got new customers yesterday who came to see me and say hello. I wasn’t expecting all of this to be honest with you.”
Ejaz Azam’s Mr Whippy Ice Cream van can be booked through his Facebook page or website.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel