BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Aston Villa did it for Gary Shaw, and in some style.
Prince William was among the Villa fans following the club's return to top-tier European competition after 41 years away with a 3-0 win over Swiss club Young Boys on Tuesday. It was a day after the death of club great Shaw, a forward who won the 1982 European Cup with Villa.
“The last time @AVFCOfficial won in the top European competition, it was the month before I was born. Let’s hope tonight is the first step towards another European adventure!” William posted on X shortly before kickoff. “My thoughts this evening are also with Villa legend Gary Shaw’s friends and family following his passing yesterday.”
Villa's players wore black armbands to remember Shaw and coach Unai Emery dedicated the win to Shaw.
“Of course we want to dedicate this victory to Gary Shaw, his family and all of the Aston Villa family," Emery said, adding that Villa wants to emulate Shaw and his teammates from 1982 “and follow what that team achieved.”
Shaw was only 21 and a rising star of English soccer when he won the European Cup but his career never recovered from a serious knee injury a year later. He died Monday at the age of 63.
The Birmingham club had not played in Europe's premier competition since the 1982-83 season, when it lost in the quarterfinals to Juventus in March 1983 while trying to defend the trophy it won the season before.
Emery was coaching a team in the Champions League for the first time since Villarreal's semifinal loss to Liverpool in May 2022. Since arriving at Villa, Emery has transformed a team that finished 14th in the Premier League before his arrival into one capable of keeping up with England's best.
Youri Tielemans and Jacob Ramsey scored for Villa in the first half. Amadou Onana scored from a long-range shot in the 86th.
England forward Ollie Watkins was seen with ice on his ankle after being substituted in the 60th minute, though Emery indicated the issue was likely not serious.
This story has been corrected. Aston Villa’s last European Cup campaign was in the 1982-83 season, not 1983-84.
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Aston Villa's player celebrate their side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Young Boys Bern and Aston Villa in Bern, Switzerland, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Peter Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP)
Aston Villa's Jacob Ramsey celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Young Boys Bern and Aston Villa in Bern, Switzerland, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Peter Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP)
A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Biden administration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens.
The program, lauded as one of the biggest presidential actions to help immigrant families in years, allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card without first having to leave the country.
The temporary relief from deportation brought a brief sense of security to some 500,000 immigrants estimated to benefit from the program before Texas-based U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker put it on hold in August, days after applicants filed their paperwork.
Barker ruled Thursday that the Biden administration had overstepped its authority by implementing the program and had stretched the legal interpretation of relevant immigration law “past its breaking point.”
The short-lived Biden administration initiative known as “Keeping Families Together” would have been unlikely to remain in place after Donald Trump took office in January. But its early termination creates greater uncertainty for immigrant families as many are bracing for Trump's return to the White House.
Trump's election victory this week sets the stage for a swift crackdown on undocumented individuals after the Republican ran on promises of “mass deportation.” The president-elect energized his supporters on the campaign trail with a litany anti-immigrant statements, including that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the nation.
During his first term, Trump appointed Barker as a judge in Tyler, Texas, which lies in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a favored venue for advocates pushing conservative arguments.
Barker had placed the immigration initiative on hold after Texas and 15 other states, led by their Republican attorneys general, filed a legal challenge accusing the executive branch of bypassing Congress to help immigrant families for “blatant political purposes.”
Republicans argued the initiative created costs for their states and could draw more migrants to the U.S.
The policy would have applied to people who have been living continuously in the U.S. for at least 10 years, do not pose a security threat and have utilized the existing legal authority known as “parole in place” that offers deportation protections.
Those married to a citizen by June 17, the day before the program was announced, could pay a $580 application fee and fill out a lengthy application explaining why they deserve humanitarian parole. If approved, applicants would have three years to seek permanent residency and obtain work authorization.
It was not immediately clear Thursday whether anyone had received approval under the program, which only accepted applications for about a week before the federal judge placed it on hold.
Noncitizen spouses are already eligible for legal status but often have to apply from their home countries. The process typically includes a years-long wait outside of the U.S., which can separate family members with different immigration statuses.
FILE - President Joe Biden talks with the U.S. Border Patrol and local officials, as he looks over the southern border, Feb. 29, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas, along the Rio Grande. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)