The Prince of Wales joked he “broke the record for the most amount of high fives in 10 minutes” after being greeted by crowds of schoolchildren on a visit to the West Midlands.
In his first engagement since becoming patron of the Football Association (FA), William had a go at refereeing a football game and learned about fouls, whistle tones and flag signalling as part of a training course at Sporting Khalsa FC in Willenhall on Tuesday.
The course, which has been running since July 2023 and combines practical and theory training, is part of the FA’s Reflective and Representative campaign – which aims to recruit 1,000 people from black, Asian and mixed heritage backgrounds into refereeing roles.
Before making it inside the football ground to learn about refereeing, William was welcomed by hundreds of schoolchildren and locals who had gathered to meet him.
The Prince of Wales is greeted by schoolchildren from Fibbersley Park Primary Academy (Chris Jackson/PA)
He said: “Hello, it’s nice to see you all” as he posed for selfies, gave hugs and high fives and chatted with pupils from the nearby Fibbersley Park Academy who had made posters and flags and chanted his name.
Aston Villa supporter William seemed particularly impressed by a poster made by a pupil which referenced his team, which read: “Aston Villa is the best” and gave a thumbs up, while another read: “Hello Prince William, I hope you are a good ref, good luck.”
Inside the grounds, the prince joined a refereeing theory lesson, spoke to course trainers and met professional referee and lieutenant in the British Army, Levi Gray, to hear about her career journey.
Speaking after meeting the prince, Lt Gray said: “It was brilliant, I am so pleased I could be here and that he could come down and support an event like this.
“We spoke about women in football, which I think is definitely growing, and how different the women’s game is to the men’s in terms of it being a bit more of a family event and a bit more supportive, and spoke about diversity events like this and how important it is that you can see it and believe it.
“We want to be able to see people who are watching football at home or on the side lines and think ‘that could be me’. Without events like this where you build representation, that won’t happen.”
The Prince of Wales waves the linesman’s flag during a mini football game (Chris Jackson/PA)
Lt Gray said she got into refereeing because there were not many football teams for girls when she was growing up.
She said: “I refereed before I joined the Army, I am in the Infantry and there aren’t many women in the Infantry either.
“With football, I was used to dealing with 22 men on a pitch, so in the Army I thought I could deal with a team of 30, so I think it has helped me with my own career.
“I got into it because I love football and when I was growing up, girl’s teams weren’t as big where I lived so I couldn’t play, so instead I thought I would do refereeing and I’ve never stopped since.”