EXCLUSIVE: ‘It’s slightly surreal’ – Exclusive chat with Prince William after Aston Villa celebrations
Prince William made the trip to Istanbul to watch his beloved Aston Villa beat Freiburg in the Europa League final, before catching up with the hosts of the Claret and Blue podcast
Prince William had words for Reach PLC’s current Aston Villa correspondent – and his predecessor(Image: Reach PLC)
Prince William admitted he found it all “slightly surreal” after watching his beloved Aston Villa finally end their long-trophy drought.
The Prince of Wales has long been a fan of the Villa and was in attendance in Istanbul as they thumped German side Freiburg 3-0 to lift the Europa League.
It’s the first trophy Villa have won since 1996 and their first in Europe since winning the European Cup in 1982… a month before he was born.
The future king was crying tears of joy as Villa tore through their opponents with first-half goals from Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia before Morgan Rogers put the cherry on top of their European triumph after the break.
And as Villa players and fans toasted their victory, Prince William summoned the hosts of Reach PLC’s dedicated Villa podcast Claret and Blue to his executive box in the Tupras Stadium.
Mat Kendrick and Dan Rollinson duly obliged and had a chat with the royal, who revealed he never misses an episode in order to get his Villa fix, declaring: “Where do you think I get my information from!”
Mat asked Wills how he felt after the final whistle: “Good, unbelievable…it’s slightly surreal.”
Pressed on why he decided to remain in the box rather than join the on-pitch celebrations, he added: “I was tempted to go down there but thought ‘let everyone else have their moment’. This is about the players, the fans.”
Prince Will has often been seen going through a rollercoaster of emotions following Villa, but this was more of a procession as Unai Emery’s side coasted to victory.
Prince William talks to the Birmingham Mail’s Claret & Blue podcast’s Mat Kendrick after Villa’s Europa League win(Image: Reach PLC)
He added: “I was expecting a rollercoaster, but it’s actually gone quite smoothly hasn’t it? I was more nervous before the Nottingham Forest second leg…I felt more comfortable today.
“We sat here with Elmo [Ahmed Elmohamady] and he knew already before Youri had hit the ball that it was going in the net, he was already celebrating. I said ‘how did you know it was going in?’, he said ‘I’ve seen it in training’.”
It was a memorable night for Wills and the thousands of Villa fans who had made the trip from the second city. And he toasted the fantastic atmosphere the game was played in and the relationship between victorious Villa fans and their beaten opponents.
The wife of Villa defender Victor Lindelof posted a picture of William at an afterparty on Wednesday night(Image: Instagram/majanilssonlindelof)
To listen to every episode of Reach’s Claret & Blue podcast – click here
“What I loved also, the Freiburg fans sat the whole way through and supported us and we clapped for them and gave them a guard of honour. It was proper good sportsmanship, it’s always been a thing about the club, we’ve done it properly.”
Villa’s jubilant stars then invited him down into the dressing room where he enjoyed some dressing room beers, before joining their families in an afterparty that went long into the Istanbul night.
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