A video has circulated on social media showing a young woman scattering what are reported to be her father’s ashes at the Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal F.C.

The video, which is punctuated by captions, begins with the line:

“Things my dad would have preferred over a memorial bench”.

She then proceeds to show herself scattering her father’s ashes from tiny containers and leaving them at several locations within the stadium.

She starts by scattering some of his ashes into a crevice of a stadium toilet, stating that the “ladies toilet in the Arsenal stadium” would have been one of his preferred resting places. She then proceeds to scatter his ashes in “the stands”, spilling them on to the concrete floor beneath the seats. She also pours some ashes on to an empty hotdog carton and later some on to a windowsill. The woman then mixes beer into the ashes she scattered on the windowsill, captioning,

“On this window sill at the Arsenal stadium with a beer”.

The woman went on to highlight Arsenal’s win on Tuesday, 5 May 2026, where they beat Atlético Madrid 1,0 in the UEFA Champions League semi final second leg. Bukayo Saka scored the decisive goal in the 44th or 45th minute, helping Arsenal advance to their first Champions League final in 20 years. The victory sparked widespread celebrations among supporters, with ticket demand for the upcoming final reported to be among the highest in the club’s modern history.

The woman captioned the video “coincidence”, sentimentally attributing the team’s great achievement to the zeal of her father’s Arsenal spirit. While many saw the beauty in the young woman’s actions, with one observer saying:

“She knows her dad more than anyone else… C If this brings her peace then good for her. Clearly he was a big Arsenal fan and probably a joker too”

While others found it disrespectful, both to other fans and spectators and to the Arsenal cleaning staff. One stated:

“I think it’s disrespectful to the staff at the stadium. The cleaners. The people who would of touched those areas. I don’t even agree on spreading them on the pitch itself because of the players. The idea of touching someone ashes from their bones."

‍

While the verdict is still out on whether this was a daughter’s courageous act to honour her father or an inconsiderate way to pay homage, one thing is for certain, there are a lot of happy Arsenal fans this week thanks to Saka (and maybe, just maybe, the ashes of a true Arsenal fan).