‘I desperately didn’t want to support United or Chelsea’ – Prince William explains his Villa allegiance

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To get the royal seal of approval you must be doing something right, but Man United and Chelsea were never in with a chance of the same as far as Prince William was concerned.

The Prince has never hidden his allegiance to Aston Villa but doesn’t come from that part of the Midlands and, with the greatest respect, the team has been one of the less illustrious in the modern era.

Speaking on the That Peter Crouch Podcast and cited by the Daily Star, Prince William attempted to explain how his support for the Villains came about.

“Only in the last few years have I really got a grip of Villa as my team. I watch them a lot. I get into stats and I watch them every week,” he said.

“It was the first FA Cup game I went to. It was a Villa v Bolton game and I remember sitting in the stands with a beanie on. I must have been about 12 or 11 and I went with a load of mates.

“I sat there amongst all the Villa fans and I loved it. I thought the atmosphere and team ethos was great…

“At the time I desperately didn’t want to support United or Chelsea like everyone else at school. I liked the idea that Villa had a real history, winning European cups and stuff like that.

“I felt a real connection with the club, more than I felt watching some of the other ones. Villa felt like a really proud Midlands club and it felt very special.”

It’s a fascinating insight and one which will surely bring Prince William more plaudits for his down-to-earth nature.

Interestingly, he also admitted that if his son, George, ended up supporting Chelsea, that he’d be fine with his choice due in part to the appointment of Frank Lampard.

“Previously I was a bit concerned about him supporting Chelsea, but now Frank’s come in I feel the culture’s a bit different at Chelsea and I’d be ok with it. I do like the values and the ethos of the club,” he continued on the That Peter Crouch Podcast cited by the Daily Star.

“I want them to look after the players and set a good example to the young fans.

“I want our children, when they go the match, to come away loving what they’ve seen, enjoying it and seeing their role models behave in a way that we’d all want them to.”

Whether Villa can scale the heady heights again in future remains to be seen, but they can at least always count upon the patronage of at least one member of the Royal Family.

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