Prince William, heir to the British throne and a fervent Aston Villa supporter, was once again among the crowd at Parc des Princes on Wednesday to watch his beloved team play against PSG in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
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The future king of Great Britain traveled with his 11-year-old son George and was completely immersed in the first leg match in Paris, even before it started.
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He embraced some of the Villa players, including Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford, when they came out of their dressing room and even spoke for long minutes before the match with the TNT station hosts, former player Rio Ferdinand and former coach Ally McCoist.
Later, during the match, images from Canal Plus showed him raising both hands and clenching his right fist in the air, at the 35th minute, when midfielder Morgan Rogers gave Villa the lead.
He also witnessed the PSG comeback, with two great goals from Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Parisian team won 3-1 when Nuno Mendes added the third goal in injury time.
After the game, William wrote on social media that it was “a great night in the Champions League under the lights. It wasn’t the result we expected, but it’s not over yet! Let the return match at Villa Park begin!”. He ended his comment with the initials “UTV,” which stands for “Up the Villa”.
Why is William a fan of Aston Villa?
William, possibly Villa’s most famous fan, was among the crowd that witnessed the club’s victory over Bayern Munich in the league phase of this tournament and during a visit to Monaco in January.
Unlike his father, King Charles, and his brother, Prince Harry when he lived in the United Kingdom, William is constantly seen at stadiums, both for rugby and football.
“Long ago, in school, I became a big soccer fan and started looking for a team. All my friends were fans of Manchester United or Chelsea, but I wanted a mid-table team that would give me more excitement,” explained the heir to the throne once about the reasons for supporting the Birmingham team.
William, in addition, has been since 2006 the president of the English Football Association, an honorary position.