Aston Villa players celebrated their Europa League triumph with fans in Birmingham city centre, sharing jokes and gratitude. After early-morning celebrations in Istanbul, the squad boarded a bus to parade the trophy through the city on Thursday afternoon.
Villa End 30-Year Trophy Drought
Unai Emery's side ended the club's 30-year wait for silverware by defeating SC Freiburg 3-0 at the Tepras Stadium in Turkey. Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia scored stunning first-half goals, before Morgan Rogers sealed the victory before the hour mark. Prince William joined the post-match celebrations in Istanbul, and the festivities continued with over 20,000 supporters in Centenary Square.
Player Speeches on the Bus
John McGinn: 'First of all, thanks for all of your support tonight, but also for your support in the last seven or eight years. You have been through so much pain, so much disappointment. This group of players have provided so much satisfaction over the last few years. We have got a decent manager! We are going to enjoy tonight, but let's keep going next season, and you never know what will happen. Thanks for your support. Up the Villa!'
Tyrone Mings: 'You can't swear on the mic, Morgan! Guys, we have had one hell of a party in the last 24 hours. Ginny did the professional thing and spoke about goals, next season, and thank yous. We have celebrated very hard. I am sure you guys have too. You want louder? Say less. I just want to say thank you guys very much. What a fanbase, what a set of players. We are so grateful for all of you showing up today. I'm drunk, I'm sure some of you are drunk. I hope that continues long into the night. I don't know if anyone else wants to speak... Emi mentioned that he broke his finger, and I am sure you all know about that. He just wanted to let you know that. World Cup winner Emi Martinez! Yippie-Yi-Yay!'
Ollie Watkins: 'I am not very good at public speaking, so bear with me. Get back to basics! For everyone who didn't understand John McGinn, he basically said thank you for your support. Look, guys, it's been a long season. We started the first five games—I think we had no points. No goals, thanks to me! A lot of the boys said I was playing with a blindfold. I've taken the blindfold off, and I've managed to score some goals when it was important. Thank you guys for sticking with me and for all of your support. We love you.'
Youri Tielemans: 'Hello. Hello. I'm probably the only one sober on this bus. I want to say a massive thank you to everyone out here for your support. Thank you to the players and the staff - we did it all together. After a tough start to the season, we finished really, really strong. That's credit to you guys, and credit to the fans, and credit to us, obviously. Last night? Wow! We won a trophy for you guys!'
Emi Martinez: 'Guys, one thing only: People will say that I only win titles with Argentina. But guess what? They're WRONG! They WRONG! I love you guys. One more thing—people will say I was going to Manchester United. Guess what? They're WRONG!'
