Royal Hodgson: Prince William and Kate Middleton visit Roy's boys at new England base St George's Park
Kate wears Reiss coat - but left the offside rule to husband William ahead of their visit to the new England training ground
The Duchess of Cambridge went for high street chic today for a visit to the FA's new training ground.
Kate kept it simple with a grey tailored coat by Reiss, a regular label in her wardrobe.
But she joked about putting on trainers for a kickabout as she had a tour of the new National Football Centre.
Kate asked Burton MP Andrew Griffiths "Have you got a pair of trainers I can borrow?" when he joked about her joining in.
She and William jetted by helicopter from London for the day at St George's Park in Staffordshire, arriving just after 11.30am.
The couple spent time chatting with Roy Hodgson and England captain Steven Gerrard before watching the team train.
They chatted and laughed with Roy Hodgson and his team including Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard.
Roy said he was "very impressed" the couple took time out to come and see the new state-of-the-art complex.
Local
Burton MP Andrew Griffiths said: "I asked if she was going to come for a
kickabout later. She said 'Have you got a pair of trainers I can
borrow?'
"I said 'It can be arranged.' She just laughed."
Mr Griffiths said she also talked of her love of sport - and how she picked up on helicopter jargon on the flight from London.
He said: "She said it has been a great year for sport, and this was a fitting end to it.
"She has been picking up on the helicopter chat. William was talking to the pilot and she is now into the helicopter chat."
For
Prince William there was some "ribbing" about his support for Aston
Villa, said Mr Griffiths - and optimistic talk about England's World Cup
prospects.
"There was a lot of ribbing about Aston Villa and whether they are going to have any players in the England team.
"He said that was not his decision.
"He
asked me if I thought the centre would deliver an England World Cup
win. I said 'of course, guaranteed.' There was a wry smile. That about
sums it up."
William's Villa obsession also emerged at a Q and A session for coaches.
William said: "I've got a quick question - I was just wondering if Aston Villa were ever going to win the Premiership."
Chris
Sulley, who is shortly to take up a job training coaches at Villa and
other clubs, said: "I've obviously got some work to do.
"They have produced good young player.
"Hopefully we can enhance that."
A source said Kate hadn't been brushing up her knowledge of the offside rule ahead of the visit.
The source said: "The duchess knows enough about football already.
"A lot of today is about coaching and schools activities anyway.
"If offside comes up the Duke will gallantly explain."
Based
just outside Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire St George's Park covers
330 acres and has 11 external pitches, a dedicated practice and training
area for goalkeepers and sports pavilions for post-training de-briefs.
Football Association chairman David Bernstein hailed the complex as key to the future of football in England.
He
told Sky Sports News: "I actually stood by the pitch yesterday and
watched the first team training for the first time here and I must say
it was a wonderful experience to see Roy Hodgson and the squad working
here.
"We expect to get a huge amount out of this, probably first and foremost the development of more and better coaches.
"We have good coaches in this country, but we need many many more and this will be a centre driven to produce better coaching.
"It's a multi-faceted site, but it should make a huge impact on English football over a period a time.
"Having
the England team here is inspirational and I think what we want to see
is other teams working here at the same time and not training with them
but training alongside them."
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