Prince William surprises England football team and wishes them good luck ahead of Euros
As President of the FA Prince William is being treated to a day of football at St George's Park.
Prince William meets England team ahead of Euros
Prince William is wishing the England men's football team good luck as they prepare to jet off to Germany for UEFA Euro 2024 tournament later this week.
The men's team are currently favourites to win, having never lifted a Euros trophy before, however, the women's team brought home their Euros title in 2022, becoming the first England team to win any major tournament since 1966.
The Prince of Wales travelled to St George's Park in Burton upon Trent, the English Football Association's national football centre, where he will first meet with England coach Gareth Southgate.
He will then spend time with the whole team, handing out shirts to each of the 26 players selected for the squad, with schools from across the Midlands invited to the training ground to celebrate the competition.
Children from the schools will play against each other in a festival in football, with William and Gareth Southgate dropping in to watch the matches and meet some of those who take part.
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The Prince is President of the Football Association and is a long-standing fan of his beloved team Aston Villa, travelling to Villa Park to see as many home games as possible.
Recently he took Prince George with him to see the home team triumph over Lille OSC in the Europa Conference League, with England international Ollie Watkins scoring for Villa in the 13th minute.
William explained his love of Aston Villa to the BBC in 2015: "A long time ago at school I got into football big time. I was looking around for clubs. All my friends at school were either Man United fans or Chelsea fans and I didn’t want to follow the run-of-the-mill teams.
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"I wanted to have a team that was more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments.
"Aston Villa's always had a great history. I have got friends of mine who support Aston Villa and one of the first FA Cup games I went to was Bolton v Aston Villa back in 2000. Sadly, Villa went on to lose to Chelsea.
"It was fantastic, I sat with all the fans with my red beanie on, and I was sat with all the Brummie fans and had a great time. It was the atmosphere, the camaraderie and I really felt that there was something I could connect with."
William and George enjoyed another sporty father-son day out at the FA Cup final, where the two future Kings watched Manchester United emerge victorious over Manchester City.
Royal fans were delighted to see William and George together in the royal box, especially as the young prince conducted himself with such maturity.
One person wrote on X: "I was just so impressed with #PrinceGeorge today. For a child of only ten years old he is so mature, poised and discipline. #PrinceWilliam and his lovely wife deserve so much credit for raising a wonderful little boy."
The pair were sweetly dressed in matching navy suits and striped ties, and both charmingly stood in the same pose with their hands clasped in front of them.
