An overjoyed Katie McCabe stole the show at Arsenal’s women’s Champions League parade as the Gunners celebrated their historic triumph in Lisbon. 

The Ireland skipper played the full 90 minutes on Saturday night as Stina Blackstenius’ 74th-minute strike saw the Gunners defeat Barcelona and become the first English team to lift the trophy since themselves 18 years ago. 

Thousands of supporters greeted their heroes in north London on Monday as the Gunners celebrated their success but it was McCabe who stole the show with foul-mouthed tirades, impromptu renditions of player songs and gushing tributes to her colleagues. 

The 29-year-old promptly shushed the crowd to begin a serenading of the matchwinner Blackstenius. 

But McCabe’s most memorable contribution – especially to the parents with small children in the crowd – came when she grabbed the mic from Beth Mead as ‘We are the champions’ rang out and ticker tape fell as the trophy was shown off to the assembled masses.

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE 

An overjoyed Katie McCabe stole the show at Arsenal ‘s women’s Champions League parade

Thousands of supporters greeted their heroes in north London on Monday as the Gunners celebrated their success

McCabe saw the moment as an opportunity to stick the boot into the Gunners’ local rivals Tottenham, whose men’s team claimed the second tier European competition last week. 

‘What do we think of Tottenham?’ McCabe asked of the crowd, leading the famous chant. ‘S***!’ Was the reply before the satisfying call and response continued with the question: ‘What do we think of s***?’

Mead was eventually able to wrestle the microphone back off her colleague as the number came to a close. 

In another example of the Ireland star’s exuberant state, she hailed her captain and ‘Scottish queen’ Kim Little, who she laballed a ‘professional’ and – more interestingly – a ‘f***ing legend’.

‘She is the Scottish queen. She is what it means to be a captain of this fantastic football club,’ blared McCabe. ‘What she does day in day out, what she does behind the scenes, she’s a professional and a f***ing legend of this football club.’

A decidedly more composed McCabe told the Irish Independent on Saturday night: ‘We suffered together. Barcelona threw everything at us, but we fought together and we got there.

‘We deserved to be in this final. We bounced back in the knock-out stages of the competition and we needed to be resilient.

‘When I first came to the club, I was a young, naive kid who came over from Dublin. To be here now is just an unbelievable feeling.

The Gunners came into the clash against Barcelona as massively underdogs but left with the European Cup

‘This was for our fans today. We are all European champions. It’s amazing.’

True to form, McCabe had to apologise for dropping a swear word into her emotional post-match interview. 

Victory over Barcelona sparked jubilant celebrations at the full-time whistle, with many of Arsenal’s stars posting footage to social media to mark the triumph.

Forward Chloe Kelly posted two clips to her Instagram Stories page in which she showed off her moves on the dancefloor while wearing an Arsenal shirt emblazoned with the phrase ‘Champions 2025’.

Popstar Jess Glynne, whose hits include Rather Be and Hold My Hand, also put on a special post-match performance for the Arsenal players.

Further scenes of the after-party were posted by Kelly’s team-mate Alessia Russo, who was recently named as the FWA Footballer of the Year.

Glynne, 35, is currently in a relationship with former Arsenal star and pundit Alex Scott, who scored a 91st-minute winner to win Arsenal the UEFA Cup Final in 2007.

Glynne and Scott have been in a relationship with one another since 2023, the singer being an avid Arsenal fan having been raised in the north London district of Muswell Hill.

The Gunners are the first English team to win the Champions League since themselves 18 years ago

North London was abuzz on Monday as Arsenal fans welcomed home their victorious squad

Arsenal captain Little said their Champions League triumph would ‘go down in history as one of the best moments this club has ever had’.

Little, 34, who joined the club a year after their last European success in 2007, said: ‘It’s very special for me. I’ve obviously been at the club a very long time, and we’ve had incredible periods where we’ve been successful.

‘To still be at the club now after that long period (since 2007), and to see how much has been invested in the women’s game and in us as players, it’s very special to be sitting here now off the back of winning the ultimate trophy for a football club and it is definitely the best moment of my career.’