William watched by Kenny Dalglish during football match in Liverpool
The Prince of Wales visited two community groups in Toxteth before being greeted by waiting crowds who wanted selfies and to meet the royal.
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Your support makes all the difference.The Prince of Wales was surrounded by people waiting for selfies during a visit to Liverpool where he joined a football game watched by former player and manager Sir Kenny Dalglish.
Locals braved the cold in Toxteth to take photos with William and shake his hand after he visited two community groups that support young people.
The royal was engulfed by people as he left the new Tiber community and football centre in Tagus Street before making his way to a waiting car.
It is understood that the prince was keen to continue his visit to Merseyside to show his support for the community as the sentencing of Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana was taking place in Liverpool at the same time.
He took a tour of the centre, which is due to be completed in February with the help of funding from The Royal Foundation’s community impact programme, met young people involved in fundraising for the project and joined in a game of football before meeting Sir Kenny and former Everton players Ian Snodin and Graham Stuart.
They discussed football, with William telling former Liverpool striker and manager Sir Kenny that his former team would probably “steamroll everyone” as they sit top of the Premier League, before Stuart joked it could “come off the rails” when they next face Everton.
Asked about his involvement in the football game he played with young people at the centre, the prince said: “We’ll ignore that. It is the worst thing when you turn up and try to play cold.”
It was his second engagement of the day as he earlier visited Cycle of Life, a non-profit organisation supported by Children in Need and based at the Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre, which works to help young people from diverse backgrounds improve their physical and mental health through cycling.
At Cycle of Life, he pumped up a bicycle tyre and enjoyed a hot chocolate as he met young people who had been helped by the initiative which was set up in 2020.
As he tested the brakes on the bike he worked on, he said he believed the correct way to stop was to squeeze both brakes at the same time, but joked his children like to do things differently.
He said: “My children quite like pulling just the back brake and sliding along. Usually the back wheel will come past you. There is a technique.”
William was due to join a short bike ride from the centre in Princes Road but it was cancelled due to heavy rain and wind.