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Village in Ghana to celebrate Villa Europa League win with parade
TL;DR
A village in Ghana will celebrate Aston Villa's Europa League win with a parade, coinciding with a victory procession in Birmingham. Villa secured their first trophy in 30 years by defeating Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul.
Key points
- Aston Villa won the Europa League final
- They defeated Freiburg 3-0
- The victory ends a 30-year trophy drought
- A celebration parade will occur in a Ghanaian village
- An open-top bus procession will take place in Birmingham
Mentioned in this story
GhanaBirminghamIstanbul
Europa LeagueAston Villa
Figure caption,
Archive: BBC Sport Africa spoke to Owusu Boakye in in 2020 about Ghana's village of 1,000 Villa fans
At the same time an open-top bus rolls through Birmingham with Unai Emery's Europa League-winning side on board, a minibus full of Aston Villa fans will be cruising through a village in Ghana to celebrate.
Villa ended a 30-year trophy drought on Wednesday with a 3-0 victory over Freiburg at Istanbul's Besiktas Park.
Their success will be celebrated on their return from Turkey with an open-top bus victory procession through the streets of Birmingham on Thursday.
More than 5,000km away a makeshift parade of 30 motorcycles and a minibus will be travelling through the Ghanaian village of Juaben.
The village is home to about 1,000 Villa fans and the Ghana Lions, a supporters' club headed up by Owusu Boakye.
"Yesterday was one of our best moments in life and what a time to support Aston Villa," Boakye, a lifelong Villa fan, told the BBC.
"We have hired 30 motorcycles so we can go around the whole community. We will go there to see how everybody is chanting, how everybody is feeling.
"Today we are going to use our minibus like what Aston Villa will be doing today."
Juaben's love for Villa stems from his grandfather Daniel, who used to stay with a Villa-supporting family from Birmingham.
"When we were kids he used to tell us stories and history about Aston Villa," Boakye said. "He used to talk about a certain player called 'God'."
The football 'god' was Paul McGrath, who made more than 250 appearances for Villa between 1989 and 1996.
McGrath was part of the squad when Villa won their most recent trophy, the 1996 League Cup.
Since then, a new generation of Villa fans in Juaben have been "waiting" for the club to make history.
That was until Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers scored against Freiburg.
"It was amazing. What a time to be alive - the whole community coming together to support Aston Villa," Boakye said.
"During 1982, when we won our first European Cup, most of the fans here yesterday, we were not born. We were waiting for our own history yesterday."
Q&A
What was the score of Aston Villa's Europa League final?
Aston Villa won the Europa League final against Freiburg with a score of 3-0.
How long was Aston Villa's trophy drought before the Europa League win?
Aston Villa ended a 30-year trophy drought with their Europa League victory.
When will the victory parade take place in Ghana?
The victory parade in the Ghanaian village will take place on the same day as Aston Villa's open-top bus celebration in Birmingham.
