Duke and Duchess of Cambridge open new £100m FA centre... and Wills even gives the England players training there a little team talk

If she had been mugging up on the offside rule in preparation, the palace were being characteristically discreet.

Fortunately the Duchess of Cambridge's husband is President of the Football Association and was on hand to steer her through any choppy sporting waters.

In fact Aston Villa fan Prince William was in his element today as he and Kate, wearing a grey wool coat by her favourite High Street designer Reiss, arrived in Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, for the official opening of St George's Park, the FA's new National Football Centre.

 The 330-acre, £100m site is one of the most advanced sporting facilities in the world and is set to become the base for all coaching and development work undertaken by the game's governing body.

It will also be the training and preparation ground for all of the England teams.

It boasts 12 world-classes pitches, state-of-the-art hydrotherapy suites, biomechanic gyms and video analysis amenities.

 Today the royal couple were given a tour of the main facilities before meeting England manager Roy Hodgson and his squad as they train at St George's for the first time ahead of their World Cup qualifier on Friday.

In a speech after being shown round the centre, William said: 'Coming here this morning, seeing these wonderful facilities and beautiful surroundings – just experiencing this extraordinary place - gave me the same feelings I had when I first went to the Olympic Park.

'A mixture of pride that we are capable in this country of creating something so beyond compare anywhere else, and excitement at what this means, not just for our national game, but for sport and opportunity in this country as a whole.‪