Prince William was every Aston Villa fan on Wednesday as they ended their 30-year wait for a trophy by beating Freiburg 3-0 in the Europa League final in Istanbul.

The Prince of Wales displayed a range of emotions throughout the final at Besiktas Park as Villa won their first European trophy since 1982. Captain John McGinn said Prince William was in the Villa dressing room before the match, and defender Matty Cash said he joined them for beers after the game.

Villa's Emotional Journey

"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!" Prince William posted on social media.

"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."

Cash said: "He was in there having a beer with us. He's just delighted. He's such a big supporter. He's always coming to the training ground, always at Villa Park. And he deserves moments like these and hopefully he can let his hair down today."

With an estimated 20,000 fans present to turn the Turkish city into 'Astonbul', Villa secured their first Europa League title with goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia, and Morgan Rogers. Before the match, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks shared a special message in support of Villa. In an eight-second clip sent to BBC Radio WM, the Hollywood star and Villa fan said: "This is Tom Hanks in the United States of America, thinking one thing and one thing only - go Villa."

A Tradition of Support

The prince started supporting Villa during his school days in Berkshire, choosing a team further afield as he did not want to follow the crowd. "A long time ago at school, I got into football big time. I was looking around for clubs. All my friends at school were either Manchester United fans or Chelsea fans and I didn't want to follow the run-of-the-mill teams," he told the BBC in 2015.

"I wanted to have a team that was more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments."

William was born 26 days after Villa's European Cup final win against Bayern Munich on May 26, 1982. He has spoken previously about the joy he gets from following a club with the ups and downs that Villa have experienced.

Aston Villa's victory started a party that is only just beginning, with a parade in Birmingham on Thursday.