{"id":814,"date":"2026-05-22T10:41:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:41:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:41:35","slug":"thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands Celebrate Aston Villa\u2019s Europa League Glory in Birmingham Streets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Aston Villa supporters poured into Birmingham on Thursday in huge numbers to mark the club\u2019s Europa League final success, their first major trophy in three decades.<\/p>\n<h2>Celebrations across Birmingham<\/h2>\n<p>Fans dressed in claret and blue packed the streets as they waved flags and fired off flares to create a carnival atmosphere ahead of a parade honouring the team\u2019s achievement.<\/p>\n<p>The players, each wearing a medal around their neck, travelled through the city on an open-top bus, moving from the club\u2019s home ground to Centenary Square in the centre. An estimated 23,000 supporters had gathered at the venue to cheer the squad as it arrived.<\/p>\n<h2>What supporters said<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>One fan said the moment left them \u201cjust over the moon\u201d, adding that it \u201cmeans everything\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>Another supporter hailed Wednesday\u2019s triumph as \u201cthe best night of my life\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Villa end the wait after Europa League final win<\/h2>\n<p>Unai Emery\u2019s team brought an end to a long trophy drought with a composed 3-0 victory over Freiburg in Istanbul on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The scoring was shared among Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers, as Villa delivered a controlled performance to lift the trophy.<\/p>\n<p>It was Villa\u2019s first piece of silverware since winning the 1996 League Cup, and also their first major European honour in 44 years.<\/p>\n<h2>McGinn and Emery dedicate the trophy<\/h2>\n<p>Captain John McGinn spoke to the crowd using a microphone, reflecting on the journey the club had endured. He said the team had gone through \u201cso much pain\u201d and \u201cso much disappointment\u201d, before adding that this squad has brought \u201cso much satisfaction\u201d in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Emery then dedicated the trophy to Villa\u2019s supporters, saying: \u201cOur heart is your heart, your heart is our heart. We are together \u2013 up the Villa.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aston Villa supporters poured into Birmingham on Thursday in huge numbers to mark the club\u2019s Europa League final success, their first major trophy in three decades. Celebrations across Birmingham Fans dressed in claret and blue packed the streets as they waved flags and fired off flares to create a carnival atmosphere ahead of a parade [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Aston Villa Europa League Triumph: Birmingham Streets Buzz","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Aston Villa fans flood Birmingham streets to celebrate Europa League glory, first major trophy in 30 years, with a medal parade an","mma_seo_breadcrumb_text":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_url":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_hide_ui":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_labels":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Aston Villa Europa League Triumph: Birmingham Streets Buzz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Aston Villa fans flood Birmingham streets to celebrate Europa League glory, first major trophy in 30 years, with a medal parade an\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aston Villa Europa League Triumph: Birmingham Streets Buzz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aston Villa fans flood Birmingham streets to celebrate Europa League glory, first major trophy in 30 years, with a medal parade an\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zalebs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T07:41:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"325\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zibuyile Dladla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zibuyile Dladla\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\"},\"headline\":\"Thousands Celebrate Aston Villa\u2019s Europa League Glory in Birmingham Streets\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T07:41:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":302,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/\",\"name\":\"Aston Villa Europa League Triumph: Birmingham Streets Buzz\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T07:41:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\"},\"description\":\"Aston Villa fans flood Birmingham streets to celebrate Europa League glory, first major trophy in 30 years, with a medal parade an\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp\",\"width\":585,\"height\":325},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thousands Celebrate Aston Villa\u2019s Europa League Glory in Birmingham Streets\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Zalebs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\",\"name\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\"},\"description\":\"Zibuyile began her media journey as a sales intern at Mediamark (Kagiso Media) before moving into digital content creation for ZAlebs.com. Over four years, she helped evolve the platform from a simple blog into one of South Africa\u2019s leading independent entertainment news sites. Following ZAlebs\u2019 transition to Celebrity Worx in 2016, Zibuyile was promoted to Executive Editor, recognized for her sharp audience insight and ability to match editorial with branded content. Highlights of her time include a Bookmark Award nomination, judging TLC\u2019s Next Great Presenter, reporting from the MTV EMAs, and building partnerships with radio stations like YFM, Cliff Central, and Good Hope FM. Her editorial work also expanded to include fast-growing digital verticals\u2014such as lifestyle tech, online entertainment, and gambling-related content\u2014tailored to evolving reader interests and brand opportunities.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/za.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/zibuyile-dladla-9a26628a\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/zibuyile-dladla\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Aston Villa Europa League Triumph: Birmingham Streets Buzz","description":"Aston Villa fans flood Birmingham streets to celebrate Europa League glory, first major trophy in 30 years, with a medal parade an","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Aston Villa Europa League Triumph: Birmingham Streets Buzz","og_description":"Aston Villa fans flood Birmingham streets to celebrate Europa League glory, first major trophy in 30 years, with a medal parade an","og_url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/","og_site_name":"Zalebs","article_published_time":"2026-05-22T07:41:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":585,"height":325,"url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Zibuyile Dladla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zibuyile Dladla","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/"},"author":{"name":"Zibuyile Dladla","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e"},"headline":"Thousands Celebrate Aston Villa\u2019s Europa League Glory in Birmingham Streets","datePublished":"2026-05-22T07:41:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/"},"wordCount":302,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/","url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/","name":"Aston Villa Europa League Triumph: Birmingham Streets Buzz","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-22T07:41:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e"},"description":"Aston Villa fans flood Birmingham streets to celebrate Europa League glory, first major trophy in 30 years, with a medal parade an","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thousands-line-streets-celebrate-villa-a7ea.webp","width":585,"height":325},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/thousands-celebrate-aston-villas-europa-league-glory-in-birmingham-streets\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thousands Celebrate Aston Villa\u2019s Europa League Glory in Birmingham Streets"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/","name":"Zalebs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e","name":"Zibuyile Dladla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Zibuyile Dladla"},"description":"Zibuyile began her media journey as a sales intern at Mediamark (Kagiso Media) before moving into digital content creation for ZAlebs.com. Over four years, she helped evolve the platform from a simple blog into one of South Africa\u2019s leading independent entertainment news sites. Following ZAlebs\u2019 transition to Celebrity Worx in 2016, Zibuyile was promoted to Executive Editor, recognized for her sharp audience insight and ability to match editorial with branded content. Highlights of her time include a Bookmark Award nomination, judging TLC\u2019s Next Great Presenter, reporting from the MTV EMAs, and building partnerships with radio stations like YFM, Cliff Central, and Good Hope FM. Her editorial work also expanded to include fast-growing digital verticals\u2014such as lifestyle tech, online entertainment, and gambling-related content\u2014tailored to evolving reader interests and brand opportunities.","sameAs":["https:\/\/za.linkedin.com\/in\/zibuyile-dladla-9a26628a"],"url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/author\/zibuyile-dladla\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}