When Villa announced plans to hold the parade today, many fans questioned why it could not take place on Bank Holiday Monday to make it easier to attend.

But the club explained in its statement: "Birmingham Pride takes place in the city centre on 25 May and many players are due to report to their international squads ahead of the FIFA World Cup."

However, Birmingham Pride has since commented on Villa's Facebook post, external to state that Pride was being held on Saturday and Sunday, not Monday.

The statement read: "Huge congratulations to everyone at Aston Villa FC for your fantastic success last night in Europe.

"We must clarify however, that Birmingham Pride is held on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May of the Bank Holiday and NOT Monday 25 as stated in this article.

"Any decision to not parade the cup on Monday is not as a result of the Birmingham Pride weekend."

Aston Villa has been contacted for comment.

Right, after some changes in our commentary box as we enter the afternoon, here's a quick breakdown of the BBC's live coverage of Aston Villa's triumphant return to Birmingham as UEFA Europa League winners.

Online, stick with us right here as we bring you updates from now and into the evening as players show off the trophy to fans gathering in the city centre.

And on radio, in a change to normal programming, BBC Radio WM's Daz Hale will present live coverage of the celebrations between 16:00 and 19:00.

Before then, the station is bringing additional coverage, to which you can listen live here.

How's all that sound? Sweeter than a volley from a short corner.

Can the first infant named Unai Youri Emiliano Morgan really be that far away now?

One family from Derby, who made their way to Istanbul for last night's match, had a bit of precarious journey, mum Anaeka explained.

'Villa is all we sleep, eat, live and breathe in our house," she says, "so they would never miss a match."

Image source, Family handout

Husband Ravi had originally booked the flights and tickets for himself and sons Arjun and Abhi.

"But then we realised one of the boys' passports was due to expire the day after they were going to fly, and he wouldn't have been allowed in," Anaeka says.

"So I quickly booked a flight, packed a bag, grabbed him out of school and just drove straight to Birmingham Airport," she explains.

"We landed at half past 11, so I had half an hour to get him to passport control," she adds, but it had turned midnight by the time they got there.

"So we had to navigate that and eventually got him in on a temporary visa," she says.

Image source, Family handout

"I didn't have a ticket, as I wasn't meant to be there, but then about five hours ahead of the match I refreshed the Uefa app and one ticket came up two rows away from where they were sat, which was just perfect."

Image source, Family handout

"It was just such an amazing feeling for us all to be able to celebrate together, and the win as well," she says.

"That just topped it off."

Megan Jones
in Birmingham

Daryl has also turned out early to ensure he gets a good view.

"I'm quite short," he explained, "not blessed vertically so I'm trying to size up a good spot for later on."

"I think it's going to get very busy, very quick," he adds, "once everyone's got themselves out of bed after last night."

Also a lifelong fan, he said he was too young to have known success at the club, "so this is special".

"I was lost for words last night, but I've had a chance to reflect now, and I'm just over the moon, it means everything."

Megan Jones
in Birmingham

Diane and Colin are among the first fans to turn out in the city centre waiting for the parade.

They'd turned out early to soak up the atmosphere, and bag a prime spot.

Diane says she found it hard to cope with the stress of the match.

"I had to go and sit in the garden in the end," she says.

"My two uncles that have passed away were stewards at the Villa for over 40 years," she adds.

"And I thought I'm coming up today for them, in memory of them."

"It's going to be a great atmosphere," she added.

Lifelong fan Colin said he's been to the Villa shop to buy his winners top, and was looking forward to waving the team on.

Oliver Phelps, who played George Weasley in the Harry Potter films, and fellow fan Nigel Waldron were among those celebrating in Istanbul this morning.

The match was "unbelievable from start to finish", he tells BBC Radio WM.

"I went to the ground and it was bouncing from the start, it was just awesome," he says.

"Then I think everyone just walked away from the ground thinking 'did that just happen, have we won something?'"

Image source, Oliver Phelps

Waldron added: "My son who's 25 has had to listen to me rattle on about Rotterdam in '82 for the last 40-odd years, and he's chuffed to bits he can throw something back at me now.

"The annoying thing about Rotterdam is I missed the parade then too because I was stuck on the ferry."

Navtej Johal
Midlands correspondent

The 36-year-old works in hospitality at Villa Park and says she “got it done this morning”.

Although it’s quiet outside the stadium now, she says last night was “epic and electric”.

Becky was six years old when Villa last won a major trophy and doesn’t remember it.

She believes that Unai Emery is now the club’s “best manager ever, by far”.

At about 16:30, a bus parade will begin on Branston Street in the Jewellery Quarter.

It will cover a route of approximately 4.5km, passing through Sand Pits, Broad Street, and Centenary Square.

It's expected to last between 60-90 minutes.

Screens will also be positioned at intervals along the route, and the parade will feature three open-top buses - with the all-important claret bus carrying the players.

The centrepiece of the parade should see the squad lift the Europa League trophy.

Image source, Getty Images

Arriving less than 24 hours after Villa's players secured the Europa League trophy, supporters might be wondering why today's parade has to take place at such short notice - and not, for instance, on Bank Holiday Monday.

Aston Villa says "a number of factors have shaped both the timing and the format of the parade".

The club's website says the squad is due to take a full training session on Friday, "before travelling to Manchester on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s final Premier League fixture of the season against Manchester City".

On Monday 25 May, it says, many players are expected to report to their international squads ahead of the summer World Cup.

And Birmingham Pride is also taking place in the city centre on Monday, Aston Villa adds.

"Together, these factors made Thursday, May 21 the only viable option," it concludes.

The club acknowledges that some supporters who travelled to Istanbul may not return to Birmingham in time to see today's parade, but says fans can follow coverage on social media channels.

Michelle Dawes

Image source, BBC/Michelle Dawes

Starlands Warriors U14s team held their own celebration at Streetly Cricket Club last night.

Manager Tom Robinson explains that they were also celebrating their own back-to-back promotion.

On Villa's win he adds: "What an example to follow for these grass roots players chasing dreams of being a professional footballer."

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery's parents give an insight to the character of the man himself, says Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague.

His book, Rise of the Villans: Inside Unai Emery's Aston Villa Revolution, charts the club's transformation under the Basque coach.

"I spoke to his mum last night," he tells the BBC, "and she had one thing in her mind, and so did Unai's dad.

"Whatever you do, do very well," he explains.

Image source, PA Media

The author says he would now have to add another chapter to his book.

"I've been preparing it since the beginning of the season," he says.

"I knew it could go really wrong, and remember the beginning, or really right... and so there will be more words written in the next few weeks," he adds.

Asked if he thought Emery would stick with the team, he replies: "He was always going to stay.

"In the speech that he gave to the friends and family - he finished it with 'right we won the Europa League, now more'".

Last night's win takes the club "to another place", says Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, who says he was invited to take part in the team's celebrations after the match.

"I went to the hotel with the first team, and their families and friends were, and Prince William after, and the happiness was immense," he tells BBC Radio WM.

Image source, Reuters

"I felt so happy and elated when I saw him," he adds.

'He was just chatting away with Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, John McGinn, taking pictures, and I looked around and thought 'which one of these has security?' and nobody [did].

"He was just enjoying himself, big time," he adds.

"He was actually taking selfies with the players.

"It's humbling to see somebody like that acting in such a normal way," he tells BBC Radio WM.

Phil Mackie
Midlands Correspondent

At Birmingham Airport, I've been hearing from tired, but delighted, Villa fans arriving back from trips to Istanbul.

Richard Merrick was a child when Villa last won in Europe. He went straight from the ground to the airport and only slept for two hours.

“It’s great for the city, to have a trophy. It was a brilliant experience, I'm never gonna forget it," he says, but admits it's "back to reality now".

Oliver Cole had no sleep at all, and was hurrying straight off to work when I caught him for a chat.

He says he’ll be unable to get to the parade.

“Last night was all my celebrating done, but it was just remarkable, it was the best night of my life”, he adds.

A tired looking Gemma Taylor-Whitehead tells me she is “buzzing and broken” after last night's events.

She was with her dad, Gary Whitehead, who can now boast of having been at both the club’s European triumphs, after going to see them win the European cup in 1982.

Through a hoarse voice he says: “Rotterdam was mine, this is the trophy for the younger ones”.

Last night's win was "a moment of history," says Luisa Huggins from the Westside Business Improvement District.

"The impact for the city will be huge."

Image source, PA Media

"Major sporting events like this deliver a real boost to the local economy," she adds.

Birmingham businesses are ready for the parade, and everyone is "absolutely thrilled to be welcoming the boys later".

Before we start to see pictures of Villa fans turning the streets of Birmingham claret and blue, here's a reminder of how it looked as supporters celebrated in the Midlands last night.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Action Images/Reuters

While Prince William opted to take in last night's final in Turkey, another of club's most famous fans - Jack Reacher author Lee Child - tells the BBC he watched on from his living room.

"Before last night Villa had been in 13 major finals during my lifetime, won seven of them, lost six, and all the ones I ever went to were amongst those six," he laughs, in an interview on the Today programme.

"So I finally got a clue and thought the best way is to stay away and they will win."

And, after Villa boss Unai Emery celebrated his first trophy at the club, Child says "speaking as a writer, the narrative needed it".

"We needed Emery the movie to have that conclusion last night, another season would have been too long," the creator of the world-famous Jack Reacher character explains.

Child grew up in Birmingham, and he describes how he was captured as a seven-year-old by the mantra "Villa 'til I die".

In fact, he's so taken by the team that he admits to inserting references to his beloved Villa - for instance using a player's name for a town - into his novels.

"[It's] just to keep touching base with my life-long love," he says. "It's a crazy thing but I have to do it."

As local Villa fans make their way into Birmingham city centre ahead of this afternoon's parade, more than 3,000 miles away in Ghana, international fans are having celebrations of their own.

"What a time to be a Villa fan, yesterday I couldn't believe my eyes," says Owusu Boakye Amando, head of the Aston Villa supporters group - The Lions - in Ghana.

He tells BBC Radio WM that his love for Aston Villa began with his grandfather.

"He used to stay with British people from Birmingham," Owusu says. "They introduced Aston Villa to my grandpa."

And growing up, Owusu says there was a particular player - who he heard referred to as "God" - that captured his heart: Irish defender Paul McGrath.

Last night, he says, his whole community watched the game together including people from his village and further afield.

"We watch every Villa game but this time around we had such huge numbers, a lot of people coming from their home to join us," he recalls. "Yesterday was massive."

A day after, they plan to meet up again and hire some motorcycles for their own version of the open-top bus tour taking place in Birmingham.

Punters at The Oak pub in Walmley were able to enjoy a Villa-themed barbecue to celebrate the club's historic win.

Tyrone Wings and Ezri Kon-Slaw were among the items on the menu, washed down with a pint of "John McGuinness".

"Unfortunately the food was a bit more popular than I thought it was going to be, so I missed the first 20 minutes of the match," said Paul O'Neil from the pub.

"But it turned out to be one of the best days ever as a Villa fan."

Nearly 11,000 fans in Istanbul's Beşiktaş Park stadium erupted in celebration as Aston Villa won its first major European trophy since 1982.

One fan told the BBC it was "absolutely amazing" and "the writing was on the wall", while another said fans would party through the night.