Aston Villa's night of glory: Emery the Great, singing in the rain and Prince William having a disco

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That was the moment when this proud football club knew they had a new companion — 65cm high, 33cm wide, 15kg in weight — to accompany the trophy that is kept in a glass case inside the tunnel of Villa Park. The older version, a replica of the 1982 European Cup, has helped to shape the club’s identity for four decades. The Europa League trophy, lifted to the skies by the brilliant John McGinn, will give the modern-day team its own place in history, too. And so they danced, they cavorted, they hugged, and manager Unai Emery got a piggyback from the team’s goalkeeper, Emi Martinez, during those happy, emotional moments when the presentation stage was being set up and the club’s name was being engraved into the silver. High in the stands, Prince William could be seen leading the conga. His shirt was ripped off. He had a Villa scarf round each wrist and a claret-and-blue bucket hat where one day there will be a crown. Well, not quite. Yet the future king celebrated their 3-0 victory over SC Freiburg as enthusiastically as any Holte Ender. At half-time, he was doing the “let’s all have a disco” dance, as favoured by England fans at the 1990 World Cup. By the end, you might have suspected Villa’s most famous supporter had actually been brought up in Winson Green, Birmingham, rather than Windsor, Berkshire. Now, though, there is another form of Villa royalty for the club’s supporters to celebrate. PRINCE WILLIAM ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT 👑 pic.twitter.com/HQyyMyzfJK — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 20, 2026 Emery, for one, has confirmed his place in Villa’s history as the elite manager who has transformed a team that was, lest it be forgotten, languishing just above the Premier League’s relegation zone under Steven Gerrard’s management. There was Emi Buendia with his spectacular curled finish, late in the first half, just as everyone was rummaging through the pot of superlatives to find the right way to describe the opening goal from Youri Tielemans. There was McGinn, owner of arguably the most formidable backside in Villa’s history, demonstrating again why he is, aged 31, already a bonafide club legend. “Hopefully Prince William is paying for the free bar,” said McGinn. “He was in the dressing room before the game. He’s a massive Villa fan, and he was never going to miss it. Hopefully he can have a couple of drinks with us and maybe get his credit card out.” 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… https://t.co/sXLzgzvFoW — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 20, 2026 And there was the long-haired fella down by the dugout whose part in the opening goal was so significant that Martinez ran all the way from his goal-line to hug and congratulate him. Set-piece specialists didn’t exist in 1982. They do now, and Austin MacPhee’s part in the opening goal – a rehearsed move straight off the training ground – demonstrated why the role has become so important in the modern-day sport. This particular routine will go down in Villa lore. The short corner, the cross, the late run and, finally, the measured volley from Tielemans, arrowing into the bottom corner and struck so sweetly you could hear the thwack of boot against leather from the other end of the stadium. The beauty of Villa’s winner in 1982 – “Oh, it must be! And it is… Peter Withe!” – was the slick exchange of passes that left their centre-forward with the chance to turn the ball past Manfred Muller, Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper, from close range. It wasn’t a spectacular finish, but the goal was classy in its creation and clinical in its execution. And now, 44 years on, new generations of Villa fans could also cherish the moment when Buendia’s cross was jabbed in from close range by Morgan Rogers, ensuring every Brummie in Istanbul could relax and soak in the final 30 minutes. That goal soothed any lingering tension. The trophy had been won with something spare. In total, Villa managed 17 attempts at goal compared to four for their opponents. Perhaps it could be argued that Freiburg, seventh in the Bundesliga, were obliging opponents. This was a team, after all, that had finished 42 points behind Bayern Munich in the German championship. And yes, their presence in this final was a reminder that the standards in this competition are considerably short of what Villa will encounter in the Champions League next season. Yet it should still qualify Emery for a form of greatness that this was, incredibly, the fifth occasion in a decade that he has won this trophy — three with Sevilla, one with Villareal and now with a Villa side wearing all-white, just like they did in 1982. Stiliyan Petrov, a former Villa favourite, summed it up neatly while interviewing Emery after the match for TNT Sports. “You have changed this club from a stepping stone to a destination,” was Petrov’s verdict. Emery’s latest trophy has taken a route from Feyenoord to Fenerbache, Basel to Bologna, including games against Go Ahead Eagles and Lille, an all-Premier League encounter with Nottingham Forest in the semi-final and, finally, this party beside the Bosphorus. The first game was October 2, the final 231 days later. The victory parade will take place in Birmingham on Thursday. “The supporters deserve it,” said McGinn, noting that it is only seven years since Villa were fighting to get out of English football’s second tier. “In the Championship, every away end was full to the rafters. If we were relegated, it would be the same.” It is a shame, perhaps, that many of their supporters in Istanbul will not be back in time to see the parade. That, however, did not seem to matter greatly as their fans headed away from the Besiktas stadium, singing in the rain, drenched with euphoria and hoping that it won’t be another 44 years before they are in this position again.. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms