Prince William (41) is celebrating a historic event with his favorite club Aston Villa. The English football club from the Birmingham district of Aston has qualified for the Champions League for the first time. “We are Champions League!” says the royal fan enthusiastically in a message to X. “A historic season and an incredible achievement. Thanks to Unai, the whole team and everyone at Aston Villa. I can’t wait for next season.”
The football team of coach Unai Emery (52) found out about the good news on Tuesday evening (May 14th) after rival Tottenham Hotspur lost to Manchester City. This means Aston Villa can end the season among the top four clubs in the Premier League and is therefore qualified for the Champions League. Villa’s players and staff celebrated the final result of the Tottenham game and popped the corks at their annual awards ceremony at Villa Park, as some Instagram clips prove.
Aston Villa will be taking part in next season for the first time since the 1982/83 season and for the first time since the competition was renamed the UEFA Champions League – the tournament was held as the European Champions’ Cup from 1955 to 1992. “This is a very special day,” Unai Emery said on Tuesday, according to the BBC. “It’s our dream, we started the season to be here. We had some injuries but the team was always focused. It’s fantastic. Playing in the Champions League is the best.”
Prince William, who regularly shows up at the stadium, has been a fan of the club since his youth. Prince William explained the reason for his support in an interview with the BBC in 2015: While his schoolmates would have been fans of Manchester United or Chelsea, he would have longed for a team “that was more in the middle of the table and more of a rollercoaster ride of emotions for me can convey”.