How Aston Villa celebrated their Europa League win: An all-night party, a parade and a Prince

Aston Villa's players and management acknowledge the crowd as their coach winds its way through the celebratory parade back in Birmingham on Thursday Naomi Baker/Getty Images Share article1Some Aston Villa fans still cannot believe it. They have waited 30 years for their team to win a major trophy and 44 years since they last triumphed in Europe. Unai Emery and his players have become club legends overnight, joining the European Cup and Super Cup winners of 1982, after their 3-0 victory over Freiburg in Istanbul on Wednesday secured the Europa League. After a testing start to the season which saw the team arguably in relegation form with just three points secured from their first five Premier League games, they have something tangible to show for the strides they have made under Emery. Last season saw Newcastle United and Crystal Palace end domestic trophy droughts by claiming the League Cup and FA Cup respectively. Now Villa, too, have their history-makers. Rightly so, the squad have been commemorating the occasion, and were even joined by Prince William at Besiktas Park and the Hilton Hotel afterparty back in Turkey. Upon their return home, the squad discovered just how revered they are as an estimated 60,000 fans gathered on the streets of Birmingham to welcome them back to the city on Thursday. With Sunday’s game against Manchester City far from their priorities, this is what Villa have been up to in the 24 hours since becoming Europa League champions. Aston Villa’s players bounced through the media mixed zone at Besiktas Park at around 2am. The party had only just started and no one was flagging. Morgan Rogers, ski goggles on, is usually the dressing-room DJ but he had handed the duties over to Jadon Sancho. They were joined by Ian Maatsen and Amadou Onana in singing Unai Emery’s name as they danced — admittedly out of time — past the lines of waiting journalists. Matty Cash, not grooving but with a beer in hand and a grin plastered across his face, stopped to speak. “I’m not worried about sleep,” he told The Athletic. “I’m literally going to party for the next however long. We are going to go back to the hotel and have a good party. “The fans deserve it so much. They’ve been to Wigan and Rotherham away. They’ve seen the highs and lows. They deserve it and, tomorrow at the parade, we can probably get drunk together. “To be honest, when we were on our way to the stadium, we went past loads of Villa fans and I was like: ‘Wow.’ That was when it hit. In the hotel, you’re relaxing and trying to stay calm, but my friends were out on the razz all day getting drunk and talking about how excited they were. I was in bed thinking, ‘Right, I’ve got to focus here, I’ve got a final to play.’” Ollie Watkins, Villa’s talisman, had not been in the dressing room after the match, having been selected for an anti-doping test. Yet once press duties were complete, the 30-year-old’s family and friends were waiting for him. “I’m looking forward to the party ahead,” Watkins grinned. The relief of winning silverware at Villa, after semi-final defeats in the previous two years, was palpable. He had told those close to him that his target was to go on a goalscoring run which would propel Villa over the line both in pursuit of Champions League football and in Istanbul. He would ultimately back up those words with actions. Co-owner Nassef Sawiris, in contrast, struggled when it came to expressing his emotions post-match. “It means a lot,” he said. “I can’t express it. (It’s) very special — an eight-year ride, and we saw today what hard work can do with Unai’s effort and the whole team. An amazing win. Players returned to the Hilton Hotel to continue the party, which stretched into the early hours of Thursday morning and beyond 6am. They were joined by friends, families and agents, plus Prince William. Indeed, the future King of England impressed several guests with his depth of Villa knowledge. Emery gave a speech thanking everyone and mingled with players’ families, taking photos and reflecting on the campaign. Some players tried to compensate for the night and next day by lining their stomachs, eating a big breakfast before their flight back to Birmingham a few hours later. In the meantime, a blur of claret-shirted fans filled the Istanbul airports. A lot had new screensavers on their phones, the most popular being captain John McGinn or Emery. Most of the fans were bleary-eyed, but memories had been made. Fathers stood with sons, just as their own father had with them 44 years ago in Rotterdam when Villa last won a European trophy. It was a generational thing. They knew they would not make the trophy parade, due to start later in the afternoon back in Birmingham’s city centre. Rather, this was a time to reflect on the night before with those triumphant scenes forever burned into their minds — whether it was Emery with the trophy, being hoisted onto Emiliano Martinez’s shoulders, or McGinn hugging Sawiris. Supporters had partied in the Istanbul rain. At the point McGinn lifted the trophy, Villa fans made up three-quarters of Besiktas Park, with its capacity of 42,000. So much for that paltry official allocation of 10,758. Others not fortunate enough to get a ticket had still made the trip to Turkey, watching the game a mile down the road on the big screen in Taksim Square. Villa’s players will go on holiday straight after the final Premier League match away to Manchester City on Sunday. Many of those who featured in Istanbul, most of whom would not have slept for more than 24 hours, are not expected to feature. The season’s objectives have been fulfilled. The parade in Birmingham was scheduled to start at 4:30pm and The Athletic arrived in plenty of time to meet early birds Paul Acock, 64, and his 12-year-old grandson Harrison, who had made sure they were in position well before 2pm. “Probably, for the younger fans, it’s going to be the same legendary status as 1982,” said Acock, who travelled over an hour from the Cotswolds to attend the parade. “At the time (1982) when we won that, we didn’t realise how big it was, and maybe at the moment it’s not sunk in how big this is. But it’s massive what we achieved last night.” Acock watched the final at home alongside his family and had “a few extra whiskies” before bed to celebrate. “Harrison’s got a bad hand and, luckily, I was taking him to the doctors,” he added by way of explanation for his grandson’s absence from school to be at the parade. The vast majority of the Villa fans who had actually been in Istanbul for the final would have struggled to find compatible flights to make it back in time for the parade, given the four-hour plane journey between the cities. With Villa playing Manchester City on Sunday and Birmingham Pride taking place on the bank holiday Monday, the club insisted Thursday was “the only viable option” for the event to be staged. Even for those based locally, the parade was due to begin during working hours. “We’re meeting a couple of our friends here, and we’ve all phoned in sick,” Wayne Bullock, 58, from Cradley Heath, 30 minutes west of Birmingham, said. “Days like this don’t come about very often.” Taking a 4.5km route, the bus carrying the coaching staff and players inevitably set off late, at around 5pm, but supporters did not mind the wait. Starting in the Jewellery Quarter, with Birmingham’s newest prized silverware given pride of place at the front of the coach, they were greeted by an estimated 60,000 fans. The busiest area was Centenary Square. Approaching the audience gathered there, the bus passed Broad Street, which displays a Birmingham Wall of Stars plaque for the 1982 team. They will now need a new one to commemorate Emery’s men. Broad Street’s pubs and clubs welcomed customers, some opening early to accommodate the huge crowd. At Centenary Square, the bus stopped, players lifted the trophy with confetti cannons and Emery, McGinn, Mings, Watkins and Martinez gave brief speeches. “Thank you for the last seven, eight years. You’ve been through so much pain, so much disappointment, but this group of players have provided so much satisfaction over the last few years,” offered McGinn, who joined Villa while they languished in the Championship in 2018. “We’ve got a decent manager.” Watkins said his team-mates joked “he’d been playing with a blindfold on” at points this season, but he “took it off and managed to score some important goals”. Martinez said he proved people wrong who said he only wins titles with Argentina. Crowds, equipped with vuvuzelas, flags and flares, chanted “Super John McGinn”, “Birmingham, are you listening?”, although the regular “Allez, allez, allez” chant, which references “we conquered all of Europe in 1982”, may need a revision to incorporate recent history. With tens of thousands of Villa followers both in Istanbul and at the parade, plenty found joy in being part of one of the best days in the club’s history. This was special. Spot the pattern. 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