{"id":1946947,"date":"2026-05-21T12:29:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T09:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1946947"},"modified":"2026-05-21T12:29:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T09:29:42","slug":"aston-villa-ghanaian-village-juaben-to-celebrate-europa-league-win-with-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1946947","title":{"rendered":"Aston Villa: Ghanaian village Juaben to celebrate Europa League win with parade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/branded_sport\/1200\/cpsprodpb\/2211\/live\/1b359bf0-550d-11f1-b682-cf91850925ea.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"ssrcss-2fe4mx-ArticleWrapper e1nh2i2l0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-15twdc6-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<div data-block=\"headline\" class=\"ssrcss-l7emlr-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-usmnse-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<header data-testid=\"headline\">\n<h1 id=\"main-heading\" class=\"ssrcss-8zqj65-Heading e10rt3ze0\"><span role=\"text\">Village in Ghana to celebrate Villa win with parade<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"media\" class=\"ssrcss-l7emlr-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1uy5kw5-FullWidthWrapper ep2nwvo1\">\n<figure class=\"ssrcss-hc6arm-StyledFigure e34k3c22\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-ab5fd8-StyledFigureContainer e34k3c21\">\n<div data-chromatic=\"ignore\" class=\"ssrcss-dtyrnv-MediaPlayerWrapper e1h75hkw2\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1553su4-ErrorMessage eitf6465\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-h7lv7m-StyledInnerContainer eitf6464\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nbxsk2-TextContent eitf6461\">\n<h2 class=\"ssrcss-89o2pv-Heading e10rt3ze0\">To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">This video can not be played<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ssrcss-3uli8u-StyledFigureCaption ehbdhz00\"><span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Figure caption, <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-15twdc6-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Archive: BBC Sport Africa spoke to Owusu Boakye in in 2020 about Ghana&#8217;s village of 1,000 Villa fans<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"byline\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"single-byline\" class=\"ssrcss-sevsa1-ContributorContainer ee66fvo3\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-dt4z-ContributorInfo ee66fvo0\"><span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">By<\/span><span class=\"ssrcss-nsjd43-TextContributorName epw3ir01\">Emily Salley<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-dqo7s5-ContributorDetails ee66fvo2\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1m5444d-Text ee66fvo4\">BBC Sport journalist<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"metadata\" class=\"ssrcss-l7emlr-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"metadata\">\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\"><time data-testid=\"timestamp\" datetime=\"2026-05-21T12:29:42.638Z\">10 minutes ago<\/time><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">At the same time an open-top bus rolls through Birmingham with Unai Emery&#8217;s Europa League-winning side on board, a minibus full of <\/b><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">Aston Villa<\/b><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\"> fans will be cruising through a village in Ghana to celebrate.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Villa ended a 30-year trophy drought on Wednesday with a 3-0 victory over Freiburg at Istanbul&#8217;s Besiktas Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Their success will be celebrated on their return from Turkey with an open-top bus victory procession through the streets of Birmingham on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">More than 5,000km away a makeshift parade of 30 motorcycles and a minibus will be travelling through the Ghanaian village of Juaben.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The village is home to about 1,000 Villa fans and the Ghana Lions, a supporters&#8217; club headed up by Owusu Boakye.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Yesterday was one of our best moments in life and what a time to support Aston Villa,&#8221; Boakye, a lifelong Villa fan, told the BBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Today we are going to use our minibus like what Aston Villa will be doing today.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"links\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-94r6ik-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0s6gx-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">How to join the Aston Villa Europa League victory parade<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\">1 hour ago<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0s6gx-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Prince William shares beer with Villa players after win <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\">3 hours ago<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0s6gx-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Chess, lectures &amp; ignoring noise: Emery masters Europe again<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\">15 hours ago<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Juaben&#8217;s love for Villa stems from his grandfather Daniel, who used to stay with a Villa-supporting family from Birmingham.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;When we were kids he used to tell us stories and history about Aston Villa,&#8221; Boakye said. &#8220;He used to talk about a certain player called &#8216;God&#8217;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The football &#8216;god&#8217; was Paul McGrath, who made more than 250 appearances for Villa between 1989 and 1996.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">McGrath was part of the squad when Villa won their most recent trophy, the 1996 League Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Since then, a new generation of Villa fans in Juaben have been &#8220;waiting&#8221; for the club to make history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">That was until Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers scored against Freiburg.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;It was amazing. What a time to be alive &#8211; the whole community coming together to support Aston Villa,&#8221; Boakye said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"topicList\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-tcr9z1-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"topic-list\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nj9heb-StyledTagContainer ed0g1kj1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1pfbb52-TopicListHeaderWrapper etw6iwl0\">\n<h2 class=\"ssrcss-89o2pv-Heading e10rt3ze0\">Related topics<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-17ehax8-Cluster e1ihwmse1\">\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-w8zanw-ClusterItems e1ihwmse0\">\n<li>Football<\/li>\n<li>Aston Villa<\/li>\n<li>Premier League<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"promoList\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-tcr9z1-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<h2 class=\"ssrcss-89o2pv-Heading e10rt3ze0\">More on this story<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"ssrcss-1ughxsy-List e880cno1\">\n<li>\n<div data-testid=\"promo\" class=\"ssrcss-ccqz3i-Promo e1vyq2e80\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1u1fh10-PromoSwitchLayoutAtBreakpoints et5qctl0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-wg79iw-PromoContent exn3ah912\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-l0lt4o-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span role=\"text\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-6bmydz-PromoHeadline exn3ah99\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Latest Aston Villa news, analysis and fan views<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-z60stg-PromoImageContainer en81kx34\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-17h6w1t-PromoImageContainerInner en81kx32\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-fec6qv-ImageWrapper en81kx33\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pflr6j-Placeholder etlorgc0\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/240\/cpsprodpb\/7c86\/live\/07948e70-fd63-11ee-a9f7-4d961743aa47.jpg.webp 240w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/320\/cpsprodpb\/7c86\/live\/07948e70-fd63-11ee-a9f7-4d961743aa47.jpg.webp 320w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7c86\/live\/07948e70-fd63-11ee-a9f7-4d961743aa47.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/cpsprodpb\/7c86\/live\/07948e70-fd63-11ee-a9f7-4d961743aa47.jpg.webp 624w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/800\/cpsprodpb\/7c86\/live\/07948e70-fd63-11ee-a9f7-4d961743aa47.jpg.webp 800w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/976\/cpsprodpb\/7c86\/live\/07948e70-fd63-11ee-a9f7-4d961743aa47.jpg.webp 976w\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div data-testid=\"promo\" class=\"ssrcss-ccqz3i-Promo e1vyq2e80\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1u1fh10-PromoSwitchLayoutAtBreakpoints et5qctl0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-wg79iw-PromoContent exn3ah912\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-l0lt4o-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span role=\"text\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-6bmydz-PromoHeadline exn3ah99\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Ask about Aston Villa &#8211; what do you want to know?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-z60stg-PromoImageContainer en81kx34\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-17h6w1t-PromoImageContainerInner en81kx32\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-fec6qv-ImageWrapper en81kx33\"><span class=\"ssrcss-37szlh-Placeholder etlorgc0\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/240\/cpsprodpb\/b196\/live\/23f320c0-7ab9-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.png.webp 240w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/320\/cpsprodpb\/b196\/live\/23f320c0-7ab9-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.png.webp 320w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b196\/live\/23f320c0-7ab9-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.png.webp 480w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/cpsprodpb\/b196\/live\/23f320c0-7ab9-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.png.webp 624w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/800\/cpsprodpb\/b196\/live\/23f320c0-7ab9-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.png.webp 800w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/976\/cpsprodpb\/b196\/live\/23f320c0-7ab9-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.png.webp 976w\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/articles\/ce8pg5jdvzeo&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/branded_sport\/1200\/cpsprodpb\/2211\/live\/1b359bf0-550d-11f1-b682-cf91850925ea.jpg&#8221;] Village in Ghana to celebrate Villa win with parade To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, Archive: BBC Sport Africa spoke to Owusu Boakye in in 2020 about Ghana&#8217;s village of 1,000 Villa fans ByEmily Salley BBC Sport journalist [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-1946947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1946947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1946947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1946947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1946947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}