Football reporterPublished16 minutes agoUnai Emery delivered on his promise.
Three-and-a-half years ago he walked into Villa Park and vowed he had joined Aston Villa to win trophies.
Skipper John McGinn lifted the Europa League trophy after a 3-0 victory over Freiburg to etch Villa's name into the history books again.
In front of nine of the 1982 European Cup heroes - including captain Dennis Mortimer and goalscorer Peter Withe - Villa wrote themselves another momentous chapter.
Spectacular strikes from Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia sent them on their way, with Morgan Rogers sealing victory.
This time they still played in white and beat a German team in red. Instead of Bayern Munich, it was Freiburg. Instead of Rotterdam, it was Istanbul.
For Withe it was Tielemans, Buendia and Rogers as Emery clinched his fifth Europa League title.
Emery's previous four were already a competition record and while he dismissed the suggestion he was a European king, he is a serial winner.
Six finals, five wins with the latest cementing a legacy at Villa Park which will last decades.
Villa officials were nervous talking about the trophy parade in advance, which needed to be organised ahead of time given the disruption in Birmingham, but the squad will flaunt it in the city on Thursday afternoon.
If Tielemans' volley - rounding off a short corner routine - gave them the platform then Buendia's curler into the top corner put one hand on the trophy.
Former Villa midfielder Ian Taylor, a fan of the club who scored in the 1996 League Cup win - the last time Villa won major silverware, leapt out of his press box chair and punched the air.
Rogers' third had the substitutes celebrating on the pitch and an airborne Emery leaping on the touchline with clenched fists. Victory was assured.
"I feel amazing," Tielemans told TNT. "My voice is a bit gone but it's all good. We put in a shift and a top performance, we've had a great season and to top it off with this, it's amazing.
"It's amazing. It's been a season with a lot of ups and downs. We started so so bad. Our standards were very poor.
"The way we turned things around was a credit to the players and staff. We kept working, believing. We got the win in the end, Champions League next season and a trophy."
Yet it was not without early nerves. Emi Martinez needed his right ring finger taped and treated in the warm-up - evoking memories of Nigel Spink replacing Jimmy Rimmer after just nine minutes in the '82 final.
But those concerns evaporated. Villa were never in danger and the fans who packed Besiktas Park had already started celebrating by half time.
Villa's official ticket allocation was 10,758 but 20,000 travelled to Turkey, they clearly outnumbered Freiburg's following and crammed into the bars and cafes off Istanbul's famous Taksim Square.
Among them in the stadium, Prince William - who had already sent a message of good luck on social media - watched on as Emery was hoisted onto Martinez's shoulders as Villa celebrated on the pitch.
Head of football operations Damian Vidagany held his hands on his head at the final whistle, signifying a release of pressure, before embracing Tielemans.
Martinez struggled to contain his emotions while co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens greeted the players before they collected their medals.
The future king filmed the trophy-lift on his phone as Villa celebrated a milestone moment.
Rogers told TNT: "It's hard to put into words, we've worked so hard for this. We've delivered and come through. It's a great moment for the fans, great for the club. We'll go down in history."
It was the first win of a potential English treble, with Crystal Palace's Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano next week ahead of Arsenal's Champions League showdown with Paris St-Germain on 30 May.
Uefa may have problems with English dominance going forward but Villa will not care much about the others now.
A return to the Champions League was already assured after Friday's 4-2 win over Liverpool secured a top-four finish in the Premier League, easing at least a little pressure.
Emery has taken Villa into Europe in every season, even reaching the Conference League in 2022-23 when taking over with Villa three points above the relegation zone.
It is an extraordinary record given the financial restrictions the club have worked under - selling talent every year to comply with Profit and Sustainability rules.
For all of their money woes, the £5.2m paid to bring Emery from Villarreal in 2022 is one of football's best bargains.
England's Rogers may still leave this summer, especially with a good World Cup, but a return to Europe's elite leaves Villa in a stronger position.
He would leave a Europa League winner, a little over two years after joining from Middlesbrough in a £16m deal, after a memorable night in Turkey.
Almost 50 years ago there was another unforgettable night for Villa and Brian Moore's commentary of Withe's winner hangs at the top of the Doug Ellis Stand at Villa Park.
