28 Fep 2008
VIDEO: International Relations

See what exactly The FA does in its work abroad, using football to unite and develop communities and societies all over the world.


An FA campaign which saw hundreds of English football strips donated to teams in Lesotho two years ago came up trumps for Herefordshire based club Westfields FC.

The club donated the claret and blue shirts when the Herefordshire FA were collecting kits during the appeal, which is one of The FA’s International Relations projects, and no-one was more surprised than those at the club when they opened a national newspaper recently and saw Prince Harry sporting their shirt.

The Prince, a lieutenant in the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals, was working on a project supported by his charity, Sentebale, based in Lesotho.

Harry’s organisation is helping to refurbish a much-needed special needs school - the only one in the African country - that caters for 43 children with profound physical and mental disabilities.

It was during this trip that he wore the Westfields colours in a kickabout with British soldiers and African teenagers.

With the unexpected exposure from the shirt, Westfields Chief Executive Andy Morris is now wishing that the club could’ve benefited from the power of hindsight when negotiating their shirt sponsor deal at the time!

“The sponsors have come up trumps with this,” said Morris.

“I just wish we could have got a bit more out of them when we brokered the deal!”

Morris couldn’t hide his joy at knowing that the shirts were still being used though and has even offered Prince Harry the chance to join in with pre-season training at Allpay Park in Hereford.

“Unfortunately I think he prefers rugby to football but if he wants to play for us he is more than welcome,” he added.

“It will certainly boost our attendances.”

Jim Lambert, Secretary of the Herefordshire FA, added: "We collected together a lorry load of kit from local clubs and the Westfields shirts were part of what was sent out.

"It's great to see that all the work that went into this project two years ago was worthwhile and has benefited the local communities in Africa."

Fellow Herefordshire clubs Garway Juniors and Ledbury Swifts also donated strips to The FA campaign.