Prince William’s pleasure as Aston Villa qualify for the Champions League
Prince William has hailed Aston Villa for qualifying to play Champions League football next season, praising their ‘historic season’ and ‘amazing achievement’.
The Prince of Wales is a lifelong fan of the Premier League team and has watched several matches this season, sometimes also taking along his son Prince George.
And William was delighted last night as the Birmingham-based team confirmed their spot in Europe’s top competition next season after Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat to Manchester City ended Spurs’ challenge for fourth place in the Premier League.
Villa missed out on this season’s Europa Conference League final after a 6-2 aggregate loss to Olympiacos in their semi-final – with William present for the first leg at Villa Park – but will have the chance to mix it at Europe’s top table next term.
Posting on his Kensington Royal X account, William wrote: ‘We are Champions League! A historic season and an amazing achievement. Thanks to Unai, the whole squad and everyone at @AVFCOfficial. Can’t wait for next season. #UTV! W.’
Famous fan Prince William celebrated Aston Villa’s achievement on social media last night
Prince William cheers and applauds during the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg between Aston Villa and Olympiakos at Villa Park on May 2, 2024. Villa lost the match 4-2
Prince William and Prince George look on alongside Aston Villa player Tyrone Mings (right) during the Europa Conference League quarter-final against Lille at Villa Park on April 11, 2024
UTV stands for ‘Up The Villa’, while the ‘W’ is for ‘William’ and denotes that it was a personal message written by the Prince, who shares the account with his wife Kate.
Unai Emery and his squad had gathered for Villa’s end-of-season awards last night as the Spurs-City game was going on and as the final whistle blew, Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez led the champagne celebrations.
Captain John McGinn said in a video posted on the club’s X account: ‘We were in the Championship – us two (himself and Tyrone Mings), baby Jacob (Ramsey) and Kortney (Hause), there’s four of us here tonight who were part of that Championship journey.
‘We got promoted, we got into the Premier League, we were seven points behind with four to play, we managed to stay in the league.
‘We kept building and we’ve achieved something that we haven’t done for 40 years so on behalf of the players and staff, we’re over the moon.’
Prince William speaks during a visit to the Aston Villa High Performance Centre at Bodymoor Heath Training Centre in Warwickshire on May 4, 2021
Prince William and former Aston Villa player John Carew cheer at Villa Park on April 10, 2018
Royal baby merchandise pictured at Villa Park on May 2, 2015 after the announcement that Prince William’s wife Kate had given birth to a baby girl, later named as Princess Charlotte
On May 2, William was spotted cheering on Villa in the Olympiacos match. He was also seen talking to friends in a private seating area before the game before reacting and gesturing throughout the first half of the match.
One picture showed him enthusiastically celebrating a Villa goal which was later disallowed for a foul in the build-up.
It comes as the Wales family navigate Kate’s treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, with the Princess away from official duties since the start of the year.
On April 11, William and George attended Villa’s 2-1 win against Lille in the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-final.
This was their first public outing since Kate’s cancer announcement in March.
William has supported Villa since he was at school, and in 2006 became president of the Football Association.
He also regularly attends England matches and FA Cup finals.
In addition, the Prince often tweets about football and last month also posted a message congratulating the Lionesses’ Rachel Daly on her retirement.
Unai Emery and his squad had gathered for Villa’s end-of-season awards last night as the Spurs-City game was going on and as the final whistle blew, goalkeeper Emi Martinez (right) led the champagne celebrations
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery roared with delight at Villa’s end-of-season awards last night as his side qualified for the Champions League
Villa will play Champions League football next season after Tottenham’s defeat to Manchester City last night (pictured) ended their challenge for fourth place in the Premier League
Next season will mark Villa’s first time in the Champions League since the competition was rebranded in 1992, having last appeared in the European Cup in the 1982-83 season.
They were crowned champions of Europe the previous season after Peter Withe scored the only goal in the final against Bayern Munich in Rotterdam, one of seven English clubs to win the competition.
Last night’s result means Villa have become the 11th English club to qualify for the Champions League since its inception. Germany have seen 15 teams qualify, and Spain 13.
As for William, on Monday he was officially handed over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps from his father the King during a visit to its Hampshire airfield.
Charles – who became the inaugural holder of the title 32 years ago – met with his eldest son in a rare joint official engagement at the Middle Wallop base on Monday afternoon to transfer the role.
The Army Air Corps is the Duke of Sussex’s old unit, in which he served as an Apache helicopter commander and co-pilot gunner during his second tour to Afghanistan in 2012. The King’s decision to hand the role to William was seen as a blow to Harry.
