Prince William was in the stands to watch Aston Villa’s win (Image: Getty)
Aston Villa captain John McGinn told Prince William: ‘Get your card out!’ after leading the club to Europa League glory in Istanbul. The Prince of Wales was a spectator inside the Besiktas Stadium as Villa won their first trophy in 30 years and their first European silverware since the 1982 European Cup final.
Following the trophy presentation, slipper McGinn disclosed that William visited the squad ahead of kick-off. “He is a classy guy,” McGinn told TNT Sports. “He was in the dressing room before the game. He is a massive Villa fan so he was never going to miss it. He is just a normal guy. It’s great to have his support and hopefully it continues and tonight he can have a couple of drinks with us and maybe get his credit card out at the end of the night!”
William wrote on X after Villa’s 3-0 victory over Freiburg: “Amazing night!! Huge congratulations to all the players, team, staff and everyone connected to the club! 44 years since the last taste of European silverware!
“Special shout out to Boubacar Kamara who has been out injured but is such an integral part of our team and helped lay the foundations of this success. UTV! VTID, W.”
Goalscorer Morgan Rogers believes Villa have written their names into the history books with their triumph. Youri Tielemans opened the scoring 40 minutes in with a brilliant volley before Emiliano Buendia doubled Villa’s lead with a stunning curling strike in first-half stoppage time.
Rogers killed the game with a third before the hour mark as Unai Emery’s side cruised to a comfortable victory, claiming their first trophy since the 1996 League Cup. It also comes 44 years after they defeated Bayern Munich to lift the European Cup. Rogers told TNT: “It is hard to put into words. We have worked so hard for this.
“We knew we had one more game and we all delivered and we came through. It is a great moment for the fans, a great moment for the club, and it will go down in history.
“It was a great opportunity for us to go and win a trophy, and we were all really excited. We knew our tasks at hand to get the job done and we have done that.”
The Aston Villa players lift the iconic Europa League trophy (Image: Getty)
Prince William was delighted as Aston Villa won comfortably (Image: Getty)
Victory in Turkey marks a fifth Europa League title for Villa manager Emery, who is also on course to lead the club to a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League. Striker Ollie Watkins said: “It feels amazing. To perform like that was unbelievable. We really controlled the game and we punished them in the end. It is an unbelievable experience, it’s what you dream of.
“Sometimes you have ups and downs in a season, but we pulled through, pushed on, qualified for the Champions League, and now this, it’s indescribable.
“Unai was really calm today. Sometimes in the league games he can be a little bit anxious because he wants us to win, but today he was really calm and that set the tone.”
While centre-back Ezri Konsa reflected: “I don’t think it has sunk in yet. I said not long ago how much of a journey it has been at this club, seven years for me. We have been through a lot, ups and downs, but to finally bring back some silverware is amazing and something I cannot describe.
“Look what it means to the fans and to the players and some of us who have been here for so long. And to the fans, who have been thorough thick and thin, this is for them.”