William and Kate open the Football Association's £105 million new national football centre
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in Staffordshire this afternoon to officially open the world-class facility which aims to produce the country's next football manager.
William and Kate were greeted by a long line of local dignitaries, when they arrived by helicopter at the Football Association's £105 million St George's Park site.
Just outside Burton upon Trent, the facility covers 330 acres and has 11 external pitches, a dedicated practice and training area for goalkeepers, and sports pavilions for post-training de-briefs. It also has a world-class sports and exercise medicine, human performance and research centre.
It is hoped that St George's Park, where coaches will train, will improve the quality of football leaders in the dugout and in turn boost performance of players on the pitch.
All of England's 24 national teams will use the site as their training base ahead of international fixtures and some of the country's top football stars, including Wayne Rooney, were being put through their paces at the centre for the first time today.
