Prince William has more or less been a lifelong Aston Villa fan, yet some will still have been surprised to see the heir to the throne celebrating in the stands at Villa Park on Wednesday evening.
The Prince of Wales Jhon Duran’s lob over a stranded Manuel Neuer earned Unai Emery’s a Champions League victory over Bayern Munich, who Aston Villa famously previously conquered in the 1982 European Cup final.
That made it two wins out of two for Villa in their first season back at the top table of European football for 41 years, and their first appearance since the competition was rebranded to the Champions League in 1992.
Why Prince William supports Aston Villa
Villa have a famous fan in the future king of England (Image credit: Getty Images)
Prince William spoke with Emery after the game, with the manager telling him to enjoy the victory – but why the affection for Villa, of all clubs, in the first place?
He explained to the BBC in 2015: “A long time ago at school I got into football big time. I was looking around for clubs.
Wills isn’t the only famous Villan (Image credit: Getty Images)
“All my friends at school were either Man United fans or Chelsea fans and I didn’t want to follow the run of the mill teams.
“I wanted to have a team that was more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments.”
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He added: I have got friends of mine who support Aston Villa and one of the first FA Cup games I went to was Bolton v Aston Villa back in 2000.
“It was fantastic, I sat with all the fans with my red beanie on, and I was sat with all the Brummie fans and had a great time.”
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Former Prime Minister David Cameron – now Lord Cameron – also claims to be a Villa fan (when he’s not mistakenly saying West Ham), though his journey to fandom is rather haughtier: his uncle was former Villa chairman Sir William Dugdale.
That might give Villa the unlikely distinction of having the poshest famous fans in England.
