Prince William hosted a football match in the backyard of his grandmother’s house, Buckingham Palace yesterday. The Queen is a patron of the Football association, but is still on holiday at Balmoral in Scotland. The game was arranged by the prince to honor the work of thousand of volunteers who give up their time. Prince William is President of the Football Association and plays plays left back in park games with friends. He described football as a "personal passion", adding: "Football, in particular being a Villa supporter, has brought me a great deal of pleasure over the years. A chance to escape with friends and family and enjoy its virtues – teamwork, competition, endeavour and, more occasionally on my part, skill."
The Civil Service Football club was chosen because it is the oldest football club in the world and Polytechnic Football club which was founded in 1875, is an obvious choice of opposition as both clubs are based in Chiswick, west London. The first ever goal on the Palace lawn was made by Polytechnic’s Bojan Jelovac who is a male model and part time tennis coach. His team went on to beat Civil Service FC 2-1 in the amateur League match.
Before the game started Prince William said, "I cannot tell you how excited I am that later today we will be playing football on my grandmother’s lawn. One warning, though: if anyone breaks a window, you can answer to her."
Mixing sport with royalty was always bound to be surreal, but the sight of Palace footmen in tailcoats coming onto the pitch carrying orange slices, Mars bars, water and orange juice on silver trays was unreal. Prince William told the teams that "The one small silver lining to Her Majesty not being present today is that there shouldn’t be any corgis running on to the pitch!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0LH9jMM8pk
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| Photo by Anibus3 West Façade of Buckingham Palace |
The Civil Service Football club was chosen because it is the oldest football club in the world and Polytechnic Football club which was founded in 1875, is an obvious choice of opposition as both clubs are based in Chiswick, west London. The first ever goal on the Palace lawn was made by Polytechnic’s Bojan Jelovac who is a male model and part time tennis coach. His team went on to beat Civil Service FC 2-1 in the amateur League match.
Before the game started Prince William said, "I cannot tell you how excited I am that later today we will be playing football on my grandmother’s lawn. One warning, though: if anyone breaks a window, you can answer to her."
Mixing sport with royalty was always bound to be surreal, but the sight of Palace footmen in tailcoats coming onto the pitch carrying orange slices, Mars bars, water and orange juice on silver trays was unreal. Prince William told the teams that "The one small silver lining to Her Majesty not being present today is that there shouldn’t be any corgis running on to the pitch!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0LH9jMM8pk
