“Can you make the goggles?” the Prince of Wales asked. He raised both hands to his face, cupping his thumbs and index fingers upside down over his eyes to form the shape of swimming goggles.
When the young fan copied him, William grinned: “Good man. Love it.”
The exchange took place on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, as William mingled with well-wishers at Earthshot’s Cricket On The Mall event outside Buckingham Palace, part of the build-up to his environmental prize ceremony in Mumbai.
The gesture that explains a fan
The goggles are not a random pick from the Villa catalog. Club captain John McGinn has used the gesture as his trademark goal celebration for years, and the reason is personal.
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In comments reported by Goal, McGinn explained that his nephew Jack has poor eyesight and has to wear protective eyewear to play football.
“A lot of children I played with when I was younger had to wear the goggles and when you’re younger it’s difficult and you feel socially out of it,” McGinn said. “It’s just a wee nod to Jack and now it’s stuck.”
The gesture has since outgrown the family tribute, with children who wear glasses or protective eyewear copying it in youth games. For William to pick that of all Villa celebrations, and to pick it unprompted with a child, is a tell. The pass-the-fandom-test moment is rarely the box seat. It is the gesture a casual follower does not know.
Then Villa did their part
Twenty-four hours later, William was back at Villa Park as Unai Emery’s side put six past Fenerbahce in the Champions League league phase on Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
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Birthday boy Johan Manzambi opened the scoring. Nicolas Jackson added two before the hour, Ross Barkley struck twice after the break including a penalty, and Tammy Abraham completed the rout from the bench.
William watched alongside longtime friends Edward Van Cutsem and Ben Dawes, punching the air at each Villa goal.
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