The Duke of Cambridge celebrated on Sunday as his beloved Aston Villa was promoted to the Premier League at Wembley Stadium after defeating Derby County.
Prince William jumped to his feet cheering when the Lions defeated the Rams 2-1 in a Championship play-off final after a late comeback battle by Derby County. He had earlier been pictured with a grimace sitting next to former Villa striker John Carew as the Rams attempted a comeback win.
Not only were they promoted to the Premier League, but Aston Villa also secured around a £170m windfall for the team.
Aston Villa’s Twitter account even celebrated with a fake painting of the Duke of Cambridge investing the team’s manager, Dean Smith with a knighthood joking, “He led us back where we belong, in front of royalty. Arise, Sir Dean Smith!”
They also later shared a video of William celebrating remarking, “A win that gets the royal seal of approval.”
Aston Villa will return to the Premier League for the 2019-2020 season.
The Duke of Cambridge has been a passionate fan of Aston Villa since he was young. He recently explained to BBC Sport that he chose the Lions because he wanted to be different from his friends who supported the likes of Manchester United.
Prince William’s passion and love of football run deep as he is the President of the Football Association. He took over the role from his uncle, the Duke of York in May 2006.
At that time, Geoff Thompson, chairman of The FA remarked, “Everyone at The FA is delighted that Prince William has agreed to be our next President. In 2000 we asked The Duke of York to take on the role for five years, and he has done a terrific job, particularly behind the scenes, for which we are enormously grateful.”
