Prince of Wales tries his hand at refereeing football

Telegraph

11-03-2025

He is often spotted cheering on Aston Villa from the stands but the Prince of Wales has now had a crash course in how to referee football matches.
Prince William, patron of the Football Association, was put through his paces at Sporting Khalsa FC in Willenhall, West Midlands.
The club is one of several across the country running courses designed to improve diversity by training black, Asian and mixed heritage people over the age of 14 in how to become match officials.
It combines theory and practical training to support those learning to be referees and other roles.
The Prince took part in a training session in a classroom where students were shown video clips before being asked to decide whether the action on screen warranted a red card, a yellow card or no card.
He joined participants in standing in different sections of the room depending on their decision.
Picking up his red and yellow cards, he joked: 'I'll follow the crowd.'
When asked why he had decided to give a red card, William gestured to two girls beside him and said: 'I'll take advice from you two.'
He then added: 'I think that it's studs out. Straight leg. I think it's dangerous, because of the height of where it is.'
Told he had made the correct call, the Prince then moved to a football pitch where he was taught about different whistle tones and flag signals.
Jogging up and down, at one point he was gently admonished for his overzealous use of the whistle, which he was told was not needed.
He was then taught about when to signal with his flag before practising side-stepping along the touchline. He later joined a mini-game to referee students taking part in the course.
The Prince was 30 minutes late to the engagement after stopping off en route for a private visit to see Aston Villa in training ahead of their Champions League clash against Club Brugge on Wednesday.
When he eventually arrived, he was given a raucous welcome by more than 100 cheering schoolchildren from Fibbersley Park Primary Academy, who were waving home-made flags and signs.
The Prince shook hands and gave high fives, stopping to chat to a child waving a sign that read 'Aston Villa are the best'.
When the Prince finally made it onto the pitch, he told Manjit Gill and Inder Grewal, the club's directors: 'Sorry to keep you guys waiting. I just broke the record for the number of high fives in 10 minutes.'