Sports
Talking Aston Villa with Prince William… in the pub: Pints, playmakers and burner accounts
“I got this call from Aston Villa asking if I wanted to meet the future King of England at a train station Wetherspoon’s.”
No, this is not a set-up line to a gag, nor a conversation with a large dollop of irony. It happened.
William, Prince of Wales, the next in line to the throne, asked to meet a group of Villa supporters for a midweek pint. It was Steve Jones, the chairman of Chasetown Football Club — a team playing in the Northern Premier League Division One West league, the eighth tier of the English football league system — who was tasked with making it all happen.
Two days after, Jones meets up with The Athletic to recall a Wednesday afternoon like no other. Over a Bulmers cider and for 45 minutes, the prince joined eight other Villa supporters to talk all things Unai Emery, his players and their Champions League run.
Jones shows The Athletic around Chasetown FC (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
Tucking into sausage rolls and drinking coffee, Jones and his friend Darren Johnson, try to reflect on a frantic, disbelieving 72 hours. They are hardened home and away Villa fans, with season tickets in the new ‘Legends Lounge’ at Villa Park, situated between the Trinity Road Stand and Holte End. Jones has sponsored players in the past and before moving seats this season, would sit in lounges where club directors would be.
“I got a call from Villa’s commercial department,” says Jones, 56. “They wanted to know if I was going to the Everton game on Wednesday evening, which I was. They asked if I could meet somebody, but they wouldn’t tell me who at first. ‘Is it the owners?’, I asked. ‘No, it’s royalty and they want you to meet at this place’.
“I knew it could only be one person. Villa asked if I could gather some fans. I decided I would bring my wife, Julie, and son Daniel and the regulars in our lounge. I called each one of them and said, ‘Listen, are you available tomorrow before we go to Everton? I want to meet for a pint. I can’t say why yet, but just trust me’.”
“The dress code was a nightmare,” laughs Johnson, 54. “So we just showed up as if we were going to the football.”
Let’s get the obvious question out of the way — how did all this happen? How did Johnson, Jones and their Villa friends and family end up in the pub with Prince William?
The answer was a combination of fortune and discreet planning. As it happened, the prince’s schedule was fully booked on Wednesday morning. He would be attending the College of Paramedics’ inaugural emergency and critical care conference in Birmingham, making a speech that paid tribute to the country’s paramedics.
Once official duties were over and before returning south, a gap in his diary emerged. William, 42, realised he would have an hour and a half to kill.
An idea came to mind. An understandable one, too — what would be better than a midweek drink talking football?
The prince knew there would be pockets of Villa supporters at the station before heading to Merseyside later that afternoon. His aides contacted Villa, asking if they could arrange a group of supporters to meet him inside Birmingham New Street station and, just tucked round the corner of the entrance, where The London and Northern Western Wetherspoon’s pub was.
Jones, his wife Julie and son Daniel, with Prince William (photo courtesy of Steve Jones)
“He wanted it to be very low-key,” says Jones. “He said, ‘After I’ve done this engagement, I want to meet some Villa fans’.”
Jones was told to arrive at 2.30pm but, with a pet hate for lateness and the small matter of meeting the heir to the throne, he arrived at 1.10pm. No one at the pub, staff or customer, knew about the royal arrival.
“I needed to find a decent table,” he says. “We walked in and it was rammed, but we got to the back where there was space. I started moving tables around so it fitted enough of us. Despite the pub manager saying we couldn’t do it, we put three tables together and with a mish-mash of chairs — like going to your nana’s on Christmas Day. People were asking to use some, but we just put our coats on them.”
Strangely, another group followed Jones and his friends in and began putting tables together. But with the greatest of respect, they were not public house regulars. They chose coffee and tea over beer and dressed smartly, though plain-clothed.
“One of these guys came up to us; they were his protection team,” says Jones. “They were glad we had got there early and chose that table. Every time a customer left, one of them would take over that seat or booth. When William turned up, we had no idea how many plain security people there were. It was very subtle, which was great.
“We asked his team how should we address him. They simply said, ‘He’s off duty, he’s here of his own time, so call him what you want, Will or William’. There was no briefing — we could talk about whatever.”
“He came in and he wasn’t surrounded by loads of security, just one of his aides,” says Johnson. “Bold as brass, he introduced himself, shook everyone’s hand and said, ‘Right, shall we have a round?’.”
Jones, right, and Johnson meet The Athletic two days later (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)
Although Prince William only attended his first match at Villa Park in November 2013 — in former owner Randy Lerner’s private box — he has followed the club since his childhood, with his earliest experience as a fan being the FA Cup semi-final win over Bolton Wanderers on penalties at Wembley in 2000.
The Prince makes an effort to watch every game and whenever his schedule permits, will attend in person. On a handful of occasions last season, he and his dignitaries entered the dressing room to wish Emery’s squad well. He is known to most of the players and has been to Bodymoor Heath, Villa’s training campus, to watch practice sessions.
“The first question was why he got involved in Villa,” says Johnson. “He told us that one of the people who looked after him and would take him to school was a Villa fan. They took him to his first game against Bolton. Will said none of the Royals are into football apart from him and his son, George.
“There was never a dull moment or awkward silence throughout. None of his entourage sat with him or tried to listen in. His eyes were always on us, just talking to the table like a normal bloke talking about Villa.
Jones and his son Daniel, talking to the prince (Steve Jones)
“I asked him if he was going to watch the game against Everton later. He said, ‘Yeah, me and George are watching’. I made a joke about whether he would get the remote or whether Kate (his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales) would have the TV that night.
“George is a Villa fan and we asked about the rest of the children. He said he wouldn’t force a football team onto them as long as it wasn’t Chelsea because all the people around him are Chelsea fans.”
The prince once asked for Jack Grealish’s No 10 shirt, received Christian Benteke’s boots and became close friends with another former Villa forward, John Carew. When Grealish was punched in the second city derby against Birmingham City in 2019, William hand-wrote a supportive letter, addressed to the player’s home. More profoundly, when Stiliyan Petrov, another former Villa captain, had acute leukaemia, The Prince acted similarly.
“He had a vast knowledge of Villa,” says Jones. “We brought up a couple of topics and he was very eloquent. He didn’t have to look up to his aides, he knew everything. We spoke about the recent West Ham game and the changes Emery made in the second half. He started talking about double pivots and how Emery moved Youri Tielemans’ position. We were like ‘What?’.
“He was talking about possible transfers, who might leave and who might come. We spoke about PSR (profit and sustainability rules) and Chelsea selling their women’s team. He admitted he would love to have more opinions on certain things within the game but he can’t in his role as president of the FA.”
Prince William at Villa’s win over Bayern Munich this season (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
As the subject of Villa spindled one way and the other, from PSR to Tielemans’ playmaking abilities, Prince William disclosed one of the more royally guarded secrets: in his spare time, he is a regular contributor to online fan forums.
“He said he keeps abreast of Villa gossip because he is on all the fans’ forums,” says Jones. “He goes under different names and he posts on there because that’s how he gets the feeling of what’s going on and what’s the opinion.”
The prince finished his pint and after three-quarters of an hour, an aide, who had been sitting, as Jones puts it, “quite far back” from the Villa huddle, reminded him that his train would be leaving shortly.
He was in no rush, however. Such was the lack of urgency to move and being immersed in conversation, he had to be reminded twice more that his train was swiftly approaching.
“It was a release into normality,” says Johnson. “At the end, he just said, ‘OK, shall we get some photos done?’. Everyone had one on their own before a couple of group photos. Once he left, we had another pint. It was a once-in-a-million lifetimes thing.”
(Top photo: Steve Jones)
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LAS VEGAS – Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.
While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.
The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”
Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.
WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”
Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.
“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”
Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.
It’s time to reveal memories, laughs and crazy times from Randy Rosenbloom’s 55 years as a TV/radio broadcaster in Los Angeles. He’s hopping in a car next Sunday with his wife, saying goodbye to a North Hollywood house that’s been in his family since 1952 and driving 3,300 miles to his new home in Greenville, S.C.
“When I walk out, I’ll probably break down,” he said.
He graduated from North Hollywood High in 1969. He got his first paid job in 1971 calling Hart basketball games for NBC Cable Newhall for $10 a game. It began an adventure of a lifetime.
“I never knew if I overachieved or underachieved. I just did what I loved,” he said.
Randy Rosenbloom (left) used to work with former UCLA coach John Wooden for TV games.
(Randy Rosenbloom)
John Wooden, Jerry Tarkanian and Jim Harrick were among his expert commentators when he did play by play for college basketball games. He called volleyball at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games for NBC and rowing in 2004. He’s worked more than 100 championship high school events. He did play by play for the first and only Reebok Bowl at Angel Stadium in 1994 won by Bishop Amat over Sylmar, 35-14.
“There were about 5,000, 6,000 people there and I remember thinking nobody watched the game. We ended up with a 5.7 TV rating on Channel 13 in Los Angeles, which is higher than most Lakers games.”
He conducted interviews with NFL Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Johnny Unitas and boxing greats Robert Duran, Thomas Hearn and Sugar Ray Leonard. He’s worked with baseball greats Steve Garvey and Doug DeCinces. He called games with former USC coach Rod Dedeaux. He was in the radio booth for Bret Saberhagen’s 1982 no-hitter in the City Section championship game at Dodger Stadium. He was a nightly sportscaster for KADY in Ventura.
Randy Rosenbloom, left, with his volleyball broadcast partners, Kirk Kilgour and Bill Walton.
(Randy Rosenbloom)
He was the voice of Fresno State football and basketball. He also did Nevada Las Vegas football and basketball games. He called bowl games and Little League games. He was a public address announcer for basketball at the 1984 Olympic Games with Michael Jordan the star and did the P.A. for Toluca Little League.
Nothing was too small or too big for him.
“I loved everything,” he said.
He called at least 10 East L.A. Classic football games between Garfield and Roosevelt. He was there when Narbonne and San Pedro tied 21-21 in the 2008 City championship game at the Coliseum on a San Pedro touchdown with one second left.
Probably his most notable tale came when he was doing radio play-by-play at a 1998 college bowl game in Montgomery, Ala.
“I look down and a giant tarantula is crawling up my pants,” he said. “My color man took all the press notes, wadded them up and hit the tarantula like swinging a bat.”
Did Rosenbloom tell the audience what was happening?
“I stayed calm,” he said.
Then there was the time he was in the press box at Sam Boyd Stadium and a bat flew in and attached itself to the wooden press box right next to him before flying away after he said, “UNLV wins.”
Recently, he’s been putting together high school TV packages for LA36 and calling travel ball basketball games. He’ll still keep doing a radio gambling show from his new home, but he’s cutting ties to Los Angeles to move closer to grandchildren.
“I’m retiring from Los Angeles. I’m leaving the market,” he said.
Hopefully he’ll continue via Zoom to do a weekly podcast with me for The Times.
He’s a true professional who’s versatility and work ethic made him a reliable hire from the age of 18 through his current age of 74.
He’s a member of the City Section Hall of Fame and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He once threw the shot put 51 feet, 7 1/2 inches, which is his claim to fame at North Hollywood High.
One time an ESPN graphic before a show spelled his name “Rosenbloom” then changed it to “Rosenblum” for postgame. It was worth a good laugh.
He always adjusts, improvises and ad-libs. He expects to enjoy his time in South Carolina, but he better watch out for tarantulas. They seem to like him.
Sports
Becky Lynch enters exclusive WWE club with Women’s Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 42
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LAS VEGAS – Becky Lynch entered an atmosphere no other WWE women’s superstar has ever reached as she won the Women’s Intercontinental Championship over AJ Lee on Saturday night at WrestleMania 42.
Lynch became the first person to hold the Women’s Intercontinental Championship three times after she pinned Lee. She first won the title against Lyra Valkyria in June 2025 and then again against Maxxine Dupri in November.
Becky Lynch celebrates with the belt after defeating AJ Lee during their women’s Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
She dropped the belt to Lee at the Elimination Chamber, sparking a monthslong feud with her.
Lee gave Lynch the chance at the title in the weeks prior to WrestleMania 42. But it appeared Lee played right into Lynch’s plans. Despite arguing with referee Jessica Carr for most of the match, Lynch was able to tactfully tear down a rope buckle and use it to her advantage.
Lynch hit Lee with a Manhandle Slam and pinned her for the win.
WWE STARS REVEAL WHAT MAKES WRESTLEMANIA SO SPECIAL: ‘IT’S THE SUPER BOWL OF PRO WRESTLING’
AJ Lee reacts after losing to Becky Lynch in their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
It’s the second straight year Lynch will leave Las Vegas as champion. She returned to WWE at WrestleMania 41, teaming with Valkyria, to win the women’s tag titles. She will now leave Allegiant Stadium as the women’s intercontinental champion.
Lynch is now a seven-time women’s champion, three-time women’s intercontinental champion and two-time tag team champion.
Becky Lynch withstands AJ Lee during their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match on night one of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Lee’s reign as champion ended really before it could really begin. WrestleMania 42 was her first appearance at the event in 11 years. It’s unclear where Lee will go from here.
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