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Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou wants to disappoint King Charles by condemning his favorite team to relegation, just days after mingling with the royal family at Buckingham Palace.
Postecoglou, the club’s football director Scott Munn, and Charli Grant of the Spurs women’s team were among prominent British-based Australians invited by the Australian government to attend a garden party at the palace on Wednesday live.
“It was fun, a different experience,” said Postecoglou, although he did not realize the King was a successor to Burnley, who play Tottenham on Saturday and will be relegated from the Premier League if they do not win.
“That’s probably why they kept him away from me,” the former Celtic boss joked. ‘I would like to disappoint him on that front. No problem. I didn’t get within 10 feet of the king and if I had gotten any closer I probably would have asked him about the Parthenon marbles and probably would have been thrown out.
‘It was fun for me and my wife. These are experiences that you’re just lucky to have because of the position I hold, not necessarily who I am. Just very inspiring because the people we met there work for charities, good causes, military, people who are real heroes for society.
Ange Postecoglou attended a garden party at Buckinham Palace on Wednesday but did not get a chance to speak to King Charles III
The King (pictured in 2010 with former Burnley boss Barry Kilby) is a Clarets fan and will be hoping Spurs don’t condemn the side to relegation
Postecoglou said that if he had spoken to King Charles III, he would have inquired about the return of the Parthenon marbles
“They know who I am and come up to say hello, but if you just ask them about who they are and their lives, you see so many amazing people doing so much in communities, often without much support from the wider audience.
“I could see how happy they were to be there because finally there was some recognition for them. Strangely enough the sun was shining in London, so we had a really nice afternoon.’
Tottenham go into the match against Burnley on the back of four defeats and determined to give their fans something to cheer about at the end of the season.
“Our supporters have been incredible to us this year,” Postecoglou said. “They have stayed with us and have been a real source of encouragement to the players, both home and away. Their experiences have clearly been up and down, but they have not renounced their support.
“It’s an opportunity for us to hopefully send these last two home games, Saturday and Tuesday, into the summer not with what we wanted to achieve this year, but with the hope that next year they’ll be ready to come from behind. us again.’