It was just before midnight, Istanbul time, when the players and staff of Aston Villa formed their victory scrum.That was the moment when this proud football club knew they had a new companion — 65cm high, 33cm wide, 15kg in weight — to accompany the trophy that is kept in a glass case inside the tunnel of Villa Park.The older version, a replica of the 1982 European Cup, has helped to shape the club’s identity for four decades. The Europa League trophy, lifted to the skies by the brilliant John McGinn, will give the modern-day team its own place in history, too.And so they danced, they cavorted, they hugged, and manager Unai Emery got a piggyback from the team’s goalkeeper, Emi Martinez, during those happy, emotional moments when the presentation stage was being set up and the club’s name was being engraved into the silver.High in the stands, Prince William could be seen leading the conga. His shirt was ripped off. He had a Villa scarf round each wrist and a claret-and-blue bucket hat where one day there will be a crown.Well, not quite. Yet the future king celebrated their 3-0 victory over SC Freiburg as enthusiastically as any Holte Ender. At half-time, he was doing the “let’s all have a disco” dance, as favoured by England fans at the 1990 World Cup. By the end, you might have suspected Villa’s most famous supporter had actually been brought up in Winson Green, Birmingham, rather than Windsor, Berkshire.Now, though, there is another form of Villa royalty for the club’s supporters to celebrate.