Prince William Slips into Aston Villa Soccer Game to Cheer on Favorite Team

The Prince of Wales watched as his team grabbed a late winner in Birmingham on Thursday

Prince William had a surprise night out to support his favorite soccer team.

On Thursday, the Prince of Wales, 41, was spotted in the stands of Aston Villa's Europa Conference League group stage game in Birmingham, England. William festively wore a burgundy sweater — one of the squad's colors — and wasn't disappointed as the team nabbed a dramatic winning goal right at the end.

Villa looked like they were set to tie with Zrinjski Mostar, from Bosnia and Herzegovinian, but then, four minutes into the time added for stoppages, midfielder John McGinn scored the winner.

William spent some of the match talking with injured player Tyrone Mings, who has joined the prince as an ambassador for his homelessness project Homewards, launched in June. Afterwards, he headed to the locker room to congratulate the players and coach Unai Emery.

"[It's the] third time I met him. He is welcome as he is supporting us, feeling emotion with us," Emery told reporters at his post-match press conference. "He met with the players and me and we were speaking about Aston Villa and his wishes for us to do something this year."

Related: Kate Middleton Shares Prince George's Relatable Take on School Tests Amid News She Won't Travel to Singapore

William seems to have passed his love of soccer and passion for the Aston Villa team to Prince George, 10, who has joined him on several occasions — and animatedly matched his father's expressions past matches.

Earlier this week, William (who is also President of the Football Association, which governs the sport in England), connected with the captain of England's women's soccer team, Leah Williamson, when he awarded her the OBE at Windsor Castle.

William's outing to Birmingham to see Aston Villa came on the day that Kate Middleton showed off her own sporting skills by playing wheelchair rugby and participating in drills as part of an event highlighting inclusivity in the sport. Princess Kate, 41, traveled to Hull for a Rugby League Inclusivity Day co-hosted by the Rugby Football League, of which she serves as patron.

The sporty royal showed her princess poise when a young participant tried to tickle her on the sidelines, as seen in the video shared to X by Sky News. Kate gasped and spun around to see who it was, before sharing a laugh with the young man and shaking his hand.

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William and Kate step out together next week when they host a youth-focused forum for World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10. The royal couple will help host the meeting alongside a charity and top radio station in Birmingham next Tuesday, Kensington Palace says. It will take place just as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry host their own World Mental Health Day forum in New York City.

The Prince and Princess of Wales's event, Exploring our Emotional Worlds, "will bring together 100 young delegates nominated by ten leading mental health and youth engagement charities to start a conversation about how they manage their emotions and how they can be supported to build their resilience and protective factors such as healthy relationships which make it easier to navigate bumps in the road as they go through life," Kensington Palace said in a statement.

It will feature “famous faces from Radio 1 and the wider mental health space” and provide a space for young people “to talk about the specific mental health challenges their generation faces, explore what more they could do to understand and manage their emotions and discuss the solutions that could support them to better look after their own and each other’s mental wellbeing,” the palace adds.

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