William, in his role as patron of the Football Association, visited a referee training course at the club as part of the FA’s Reflective and Representative campaign which aims to recruit 1,000 people from Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage backgrounds into refereeing roles.
The course started in July 2023 and combines theory and practical training to support those who are taking their first steps into officiating.
During the visit, the prince met representatives from the FA and Sporting Khalsa to hear about the importance of opening up opportunities in football to young people from diverse backgrounds.
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It comes nearly five years after a 53-page diversity report compiled by the Black, Asian and Mixed Ethnicity Referee Support Group alleged that some FA observers made racist comments about referees, effectively blocking them from being promoted to the higher leagues.

Sporting Khalsa FC is one of several clubs across the country that is running courses to teach Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage people over the age of 14 how to become match officials.