Prince William Watches Villa Win Europa League, Films Trophy Lift

McGinn invites Prince William to join Aston Villa’s Europa League party  

The Villa fan watched from the stands as Unai Emery’s side beat Freiburg 3-0 to claim the Europa League and end a 30-year wait for major silverware.

“He is a massive Villa fan so he was a massive fan so he was never going to miss...”

 

Aston Villa captain John McGinn invited Prince William to join the team’s Europa League celebration after the royal attended their 3-0 win over Freiburg in Wednesday’s final.

William, a lifelong Villa supporter, watched from the stands at Besiktas Stadium as Unai Emery’s side secured the club’s first major trophy in 30 years.

He also met with Villa’s players in the dressing room before the match in Istanbul. That led McGinn to encourage him to take part in the post-match celebrations.

“He is a classy guy,” McGinn told TNT Sport. “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!”

UP THE VILLA. 👑 pic.twitter.com/xMdzDZO91X

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 20, 2026

The Prince has been a regular at Villa matches in recent years and was seen celebrating enthusiastically as Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendía, and Morgan Rogers scored the goals that secured the club’s first major European trophy in 44 years.

 

He even took out his phone to film the moment McGinn lifted the trophy during the confetti-filled celebration.