Prince William was back in the soccer stands on Wednesday, Jan. 29 — for a so-called "Battle of Britain."

The future king went through the whole range of emotions as his team, Aston Villa took on Celtic, from Glasgow, Scotland in the European Champions League.

Villa, whom he has watched frequently in this season's competition, won the game 4-2, but not after an up-and-down match that saw the Birmingham-based team lead by two goals in the early minutes, only for Celtic, to get two goals back.

Then, in the second half of the game, Aston Villa sealed the victory with two further goals. William, 43, was pictured with his head in his hands during the topsy-turvy events, and on his feet cheering alongside longtime friend, and fellow Villa fan, Ed van Cutsem.

As well as being an English-based team playing a Scottish club, the game was given extra spice as many of the Celtic fans — historically rooted in Irish republican traditions and sentiment through the club’s background in Glasgow's Catholic population — like to sing anti-monarchy songs.

William's visit to Villa's ground in Birmingham, in England's Midlands, came a week after he and some friends — Thomas van Straubenzee, who is one of Princess Charlotte’s godfathers, and Nicholas van Cutsem, who is one of Ed's younger brothers and one of Prince Louis’ godfathers — made a surprise trip to Monaco to watch the team play.

On that occasion, they weren't as successful, going down in a 1-0 defeat. But it was the fulfillment of a long-held dream for William as he had told friends he was keen to travel to watch the team abroad.

Related: Prince William Poses with King Frederik of Denmark as the Countries Face Off in Soccer: 'May the Best Team Win'

There’s a symmetry to William’s love of Aston Villa and this year: He was born in 1982 when Villa coincidentally last won Europe's most prestigious club trophy, the European Cup. This year, as they compete in it again for the first time in decades, he has been to see them a couple of times in the competition.

The prince has previously revealed how his birthdate and Villa’s success was part of the reason friends suggested he support the team.

“I was born in '82 and the friends of mine were desperately trying to get me to support Villa as you can imagine — which it worked,” William said on the That Peter Crouch Podcast in 2020.

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“They told me about the history of the club and how it mattered — and they won the European Cup [in 82]. It kind of went from there. I don’t know what it was. I felt a real connection with the club, more than I felt watching some of the other ones.”

Earlier in January, the prince surprised Villa fans at a local pub in Birmingham (the Premier League team's home city) on Jan. 15 ahead of their 1-0 win against Everton.

William organized a meetup of fans to coincide with his time in Birmingham — where he attended the College of Paramedics' inaugural Emergency and Critical Care Conference — and bought them a round of drinks at a Wetherspoons pub before the game.

Earlier on Jan. 29, the Prince stepped out in Guildford, 30 miles southwest of London, to promote the work of one of his Earthshot Prize finalists — and enjoyed a game with youngsters from a local school who were there to experience the science NatureMetrics employs.

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