Aston Villa captain John McGinn wasted no time in making a royal request after his team secured the Europa League title, ending a significant wait for European silverware.
Following their emphatic 3-0 victory over Freiburg, McGinn playfully urged avid fan Prince William to get his credit card out for the post-match celebrations.
Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia, and Morgan Rogers sealed the triumph on Wednesday, with Prince William, a well-known supporter of the club, cheering from the stands.
Speaking to TNT Sports, McGinn described the royal as “a classy guy” who was “in the dressing room before the game.”
He added: “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.”
The 43-year-old royal later took to social media to express his delight and congratulate the team, whose last European trophy came in 1982 with their European Cup and Super Cup triumphs.
“Amazing night!! Huge congratulations to all the players, team, staff and everyone connected to the club,” he wrote.
He continued, acknowledging the long gap: “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 the foundations of this success.”
After such a lengthy wait for European glory, Villa would have been forgiven for showing signs of nerves on Wednesday night in Istanbul.
However, they never looked back after taking the lead in the 40th minute through Tielemans after a well-worked corner kick routine.
Buendia doubled Villa’s lead on the stroke of half time with a fine curling effort from the edge of the area, and Freiburg never looked like getting back into the contest after the break.
England international Rogers sealed the victory shortly before the hour mark when he poked the ball home from close range, and Villa cruised to victory with no major scares in the final half hour.
