Prince William's Wembley visit

The President of The Football Association, HRH Prince William, visited Wembley yesterday afternoon to meet FA and England 2018 staff and also spoke to members of the England team and management in South Africa via a video-link.

Prince William, an avid Aston Villa fan, will travel to the World Cup to watch an England game and promote the 2018 bid during a tour of southern Africa in June.

He was taken on a tour of The FA offices where he was linked to the England team in Rustenburg and spoke to manager Fabio Capello, Sir Trevor Brooking, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney.

Prince William said: "All the staff at Wembley and the players and management in South Africa are working so hard to make this a successful year for English football. It could be a year of amazing achievement, on and off the field - we could win both the World Cup in South Africa and the World Cup vote in Zurich.

"It will certainly be tough but both are do-able. Despite Rio Ferdinand’s injury, which is a disappointment for Rio himself and the England team, morale in the team is high. Winning both the World Cup and the Bid would be a huge boost to the whole country- and the whole country is behind them."

FA General Secretary Alex Horne said: "It was a great honour to host Prince William at Wembley. It was a real morale boost for everyone at The FA ahead of the World Cup and the England players and management really appreciated the message of support."

Following the video link Prince William met the 2018 team. As President of The FA, Prince William is also an Ambassador for the bid and has already undertaken several key activities.

England 2018 Chief Executive Andy Anson said: "Prince William is one of our most important and effective advocates and he is totally committed to bringing the World Cup to England. He made that clear to our team and everybody was really motivated by his visit."

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