Matt Maher: Feast or famine for celebrities at Villa Park lately

So often has HRH, who has to walk just past the post-match interview area when exiting Villa Park, provided a couple of sentences summing up his view of the game there was almost a sense he was looking for us after this month’s win over Bayern Munich. It has reached the point where it is easier to get a word out of the heir to the throne than some players.

Wills’ decision to stay at home and watch Tuesday’s match against Bologna on television was, therefore, cause for a little disappointment.

Yet at least those who attended the Italian club’s media conference the night before were served up a new contender for No.1 position on the list of random people you never expected to see in a football ground press room.

Around half-an-hour before Bologna boss Vincenzo Italiano was due to hold court, Adam Richman – star of the eating challenge TV show Man vs Food – quietly strolled into a sparsely-populated Villa Park press room.

After those present had stopped rubbing their eyes and before Richman could escape with a tasty morsel, the reason for his presence (in what seemed an otherwise deserted stadium) needed to be established.

The 50-year-old, it transpired, was at Villa Park filming the latest series of a new show based around football, in which he visits a club and then explores the food of that city. Villa v Bologna was seemingly to obvious a culinary mix to miss.

Richman, who left the press room carrying a salted caramel muffin for his executive producer, had spent the past 24 hours touring some of Birmingham’s finest desi pubs. Not a bad gig, if you can get it.

In the meantime, the lesson of the press room is to keep your eyes peeled at all times. You never know who might be about to walk in for a chat.