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Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, is a huge Aston Villa fan and has been spotted numerous times at matches and has previously spoken about his support of the club.

Why does Prince William support Aston Villa?

Ahead of Villa's FA Cup defeat to Arsenal in May 2015 under Tim Sherwood, he spoke to BBC presenter Gary Linker about his Villa allegiance.

Prince William said: “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 Man United fans or Chelsea fans and I didn’t want to follow the run of the mill teams.

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

“Aston Villa’s always had a great history. I have got friends of mine who support Aston Villa and one of the first FA Cup games I went to was Bolton v Aston Villa back in 2000. Sadly, Villa went on to lose to Chelsea.

“It was fantastic, I sat with all the fans with my red beanie on, and I was sat with all the Brummie fans and had a great time.

“It was the atmosphere, the camaraderie and I really felt that there was something I could connect with.”

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Speaking in February 2020, William said: "People like Paul Merson were playing and I thought if people like him can play as well as he does, knowing the struggles he was under at the time...this is a club I can support.

"I was also born in ‘82, the year we won the (European) Cup, so I feel the history and pedigree around Villa has always been quite close to me."

Has he attended matches?





He was pictured at in an executive box at Villa Park for the 0-0 Premier League draw against Sunderland in November 2013.

Prince William was wearing a Villa coat and a Villa scarf.

He also attended the 2015 FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal, as a dignitary in the Royal Box.

His Royal Highness sat next to then Villa owner Randy Lerner for the match. Villa lost the match 4-0 and Prince William presented the trophy to Arsenal and handed out runners-up medals to Tim Sherwood's players.

Wills visited Villa Park for the 1-0 Championship victory over Cardiff City in April 2018.

He was pictured celebrating in an executive box with former Villa favourite John Carew as Jack Grealish grabbed a late winner.

The prince stopped after the match to chat and have photographs taken with players and staff.

He attended the play-off final defeat to Fulham at Wembley in May 2018, a week after his brother Harry's wedding, and was at Carrow Road earlier this season to see the Villa whip Norwich 5-1.

Have there been any other examples of his Villa support?

He appeared to be wearing a claret tie during the wedding of his wife's sister Pippa Middleton in May 2017.

In October 2017, the Duke and Duchess visited the London Stadium, the home of West Ham United. The Hammers offered their young children replica kits; however, William showed his true colours.

He jokingly said: “Right colours, wrong team.”

A month later, as a guest at the Pride of Britain awards he wore a Villa scarf in a show of solidarity with Villa fan Moin Younis, who was recognised with an award for his bravery for living with a severe skin condition.

Aston Villa webchat - how to get involved Hello! At Birmingham Live, we are keen to give the fans as much opportunity to discuss the beautiful game as much as possible. That is why we have decided to launch a brand new webchat forum, which allows supporters to interact with both our writers and each other. At several points every week, we will be opening up our webchats, with opportunities to take part in live Q&As about transfers and tactics, as well as the chance to air your opinions about the end of the Premier League season with your fellow fans. With no fans allowed at stadiums, we want to replicate that community feel here. Talking, and keeping in touch, has never been more important. If you want to take part in these chats, all you have to do is follow these four simple steps to register. 1. Write your message in the box and either press enter or click on the blue marker, as shown below. 2. This will prompt a new box to appear, where you can either sign-in if you already have an account, or register if you do not have an account. 3. When you click 'register', this box will appear. Once you have entered your details, you can click 'create account' to confirm. 4. And now you're ready to take part in the chat, with your username initials appearing at the bottom left-hand side of the page. It really is that simple. Remember: you have to sign up to take part, and we want our discussions to be polite, civil and considerate. Enjoy.

In the same month, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Villa Park and spoke to manager Steve Bruce, with the Duke praising the manager for how his team were playing.

He never shies away from his his claret and blue allegiances and was spreading the Villa love in September 2018 while on a training session in Kenya with his regiment, the Irish Guards.

William met local forces but also the football team from the small town of Kinamba as part of a community project.

He presented each of the players with this season's Villa shirt, giving them a mix of home and away tops, and posed for a picture.

How have Villa celebrated his support?

After the birth of all three of William and Kate's children, Villa have tweeted a welcome message including a picture of a Villa shirt printed with 'HRH'.

What have Villa officials said about him?

(Image: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire)

Then Villa manager Steve Bruce was impressed with how much knowledge HRH had about the current Villa side when they met in November 2017.

Bruce said: “He introduced Kate to me as the ‘top man’.

"He talked about the squad and how we have turned it around a little bit.

“He’s delighted we are moving it forward. Being a dad myself, you would like him as a son. He was impeccable.

“It’s not often you have the future King as a supporter so it’s great for the club."