Prince William is sending a message straight to his favorite soccer team, Aston Villa!
On Sept. 17, the Prince of Wales, 42, penned a personal message on X to wish the Premier League team well at their UEFA Champions League match against the Young Boys squad from Switzerland, set to take place the same day. Prince William is president of the Football Association, an avid soccer fan and is known to root for Aston Villa.
“The last time @AVFCOfficial won in the top European competition, it was the month before I was born. Let’s hope tonight is the first step towards another European adventure!” William began the message.
“My thoughts this evening are also with Villa legend Gary Shaw’s friends and family following his passing yesterday,” he continued, referencing the death of the former Aston Villa player. The soccer club announced Shaw’s death on Sept. 16, and remembered the striker in a tribute as “one of our European Cup-winning heroes,” which is the match that William referenced.
The Prince of Wales closed the post with the hashtag “#UTV,” sending support with an abbreviation for “Up the Villa,” or British parlance for “go team.”
He signed the message with “W,” using his first initial as shorthand, as he and wife Kate Middleton do to denote when a social media post comes directly from them.
Like many passionate soccer fans, Prince William is known to post messages on X to comment on big news relating to the game. He seems to have passed down an interest in soccer — particularly the Villa fandom! — to his eldest son, Prince George, 11.
The father and son attended one of the team’s games at home stadium Villa Park in Birmingham, England in April, where George festively wore a scarf in the club’s colors. After the match, where Villa beat French team Lille 2-1, William confirmed his son was following in his footsteps as a fan.
When asked if George was now “part of the pride,” a phrase Villa supporters use to describe their team’s followers, William replied, “Oh yes, he’s loving it,” according to sports journalist Neil Moxley, who recapped the chat on X.
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Earlier this year, a source told PEOPLE that following Aston Villa gave Prince William a lift as both his wife Princess Kate and father King Charles were undergoing treatment for cancer. (The Princess of Wales issued a video message on Sept. 9 to share that she completed chemotherapy, while Buckingham Palace said in late April that the King’s treatment was ongoing.)
“He has been hugely buoyed by the results of Aston Villa,” the source said. “You shouldn’t overlook the importance of soccer in these moments.”
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Source: The Wall Street Journal
