Prince William lets slip to Edinburgh locals Louis' support for five teams
During an unexpected solo trip to Scotland, Prince William revealed that young Prince Louis already cheers for five football teams - and he entertained the idea of Scottish national footballer John McGinn joining him on a future visit.
While in Leith on Wednesday to launch a collaboration with a Scottish football charity, the Prince of Wales took part in a training session led by Street Soccer Scotland. This initiative will receive backing from his Royal Foundation, which is set to support various programmes at the charity's facility close to Edinburgh through its Community Impact Project.
Additionally, this financial aid from the foundation will contribute to the creation of Leith United – a partnership between the Leith Community Centre and YMCA Edinburgh.
Prince William engaged with ten year old YMCA attendee Shaniah Gilgun and was briefed on her and other children's efforts to enhance housing conditions locally. However, sport became the topic of conversation following William's sighting of an Aston Villa poster.
The Aston Villa-adoring prince, who often watches matches with his firstborn Prince George, mused to Shaniah: "Maybe I should bring John McGinn... might have to wait till he retires - we'll put it in the pipeline," reports the Scottish Daily Express.
With laughter, he continued: "He promised me he would come up and show me around."
Furthermore, when querying youngsters about their favourite football squads during his visit to the community centre, William divulged that his youngest child Louis is a fan of "five different teams now". Shaniah later reflected on the praise she received from William regarding her campaign to improve housing.
Shaniah revealed that the partnership was confirmed when Prince William mentioned John McGinn, saying, "He said it was a really good thing and that we should keep doing it and only good will come out of it," and she agreed, "When he mentioned John McGinn, I said, 'That's a deal'."
This week wasn't just about Royal engagements for Prince William; King Charles also had a chance encounter with David Beckham at the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday, May 19. The pair exchanged pleasantries and even teased a potential joint project.
During their visit to the exhibition, Charles and Queen Camilla were greeted by the former Manchester United star and gardening guru Alan Titchmarsh at the Highgrove Shop display, where sales contribute to The King's Foundation. Beckham, who has been an ambassador for the foundation for a year, was delighted to see the royals.
Street Soccer Scotland, established by David Duke in Leith in 2009, has since expanded to offer free football-themed training and personal development programmes across Scotland. The charity aims to tackle issues such as poor mental health, addiction, homelessness, and social isolation.
With the help of a Royal Foundation grant, Street Soccer Scotland plans to refurbish Leith Community Centre, bolster sports initiatives, extend community outreach efforts, and hire an impact manager for three years to oversee grassroots leaders and foster local partnerships.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
40 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Celtic 'pause' Marco Tilio transfer move despite 'pressure'
The winger has made only two competitive appearances for the Scottish champions since joining them two years ago. Sky Sports reports that Celtic have agreed to a £350,000 loan deal, with an obligation to buy for £1.3 million, for Tilio to join Rapid. Read more: However, the Parkhead club are said to be pausing the move. Despite having limited options out wide, manager Brendan Rodgers has not yet given the nod for Tilio's departure. This delay has prompted Rapid Vienna to start scouting alternative targets. UPDATE: Rapid Vienna are putting pressure on Celtic to green-light a move for Marco Tilio before they move on to other targets. They've agreed a £350k loan deal, with an obligation to buy for £1.3m, but Celtic have since paused the move as they look for a winger (w/@Sky_EricN) — Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) August 1, 2025 Rodgers recently addressed Celtic's summer transfer activity and the work needed before the window closes. He said: "We've still got a wee bit of work to do. "I think that it's a huge credit to the guys who are here and how well they've worked. "But the squad will hopefully look different again come the end of the window. "We know the work that we need to do, and it's my responsibility to convince the club that we really need them."
Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
Hearts money, investment, budget and transfers put to the test
SPFL Premiership progress will determine the worth of the overhaul Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Player contracts and transfer fees totalling millions of pounds are designed to restore Hearts as one of Scottish football's main challengers. Four new coaches and seven new signings are in place. Paperwork is signed and stored in the Tynecastle Park filing cabinet, which remains unlocked for more new deals to be added. The bulk of a necessary overhaul is done. The work is now about to be properly tested. The William Hill Scottish Premiership kicks off this weekend while new-look Hearts look on. Their opening game is delayed until Monday night for the benefit of Sky Sports. After a frenetic summer of activity, Derek McInnes' team is primed to take on Aberdeen. McInnes and assistants Paul Sheerin and Alan Archibald left Kilmarnock for Gorgie in May, followed by set-piece coach Ross Grant and seven new recruits. At least two more will follow. The changing face of Hearts has literally cost millions in compensation, transfer fees, signing-on fees and wages. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad We are about to discover whether it was all worth it. The Aberdeen game alone won't define the campaign but over the coming weeks it will become clear just how much McInnes, Tony Bloom and Jamestown Analytics have rejuvenated Hearts. Finishing seventh in last season's Premiership wasn't acceptable, hence the change of manager and influx of new players. The management team will watch rival teams open their league campaigns over the weekend in anticipation of a powderkeg fixture at Tynecastle on Monday. 'We're all getting out to watch games this weekend,' said McInnes. 'I've seen Motherwell, picked them up this season, and picked St Mirren up this season already. You always like to see what teams are doing, new signings and whatever. Like last season: What teams are playing a back five? What teams are committing to a back four? You try and get a flavour of how they're going to be and you always see what the new signings are like. 'There is that interest to see what players are bringing to different clubs, but I think tactics and systems can sometimes be a bit overplayed. I think it's all about whoever makes the good signings. That can be key because I think clearly there are a lot of people doing it their own way and a lot of people are investing money. We've just got to assume that everybody's doing their job well, but we've got to be doing our job as well as we can. If we're doing the job as well as we can with the budget that's afforded to me, with the resource that we've got, with the facilities and everything else, we should be expecting a lot more from ourselves than we did last year. There's no doubt about it.' Seven new arrivals joined Hearts following the end of last season: Norwegian right-back Christian Borchgrevink, Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis, Portuguese forward Claudio Braga, Irish midfielder Oisin McEntee, Belgian striker Elton Kabangu, Scottish centre-back Stuart Findlay and Albanian winger Sabah Kerjota. Burkinabe forward Pierre Landry Kabore and Icelandic midfielder Tomas Bent Magnusson should take that tally to nine in the coming days. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad All concerned are itching to get started in the league after four wins from four in the Premier Sports Cup group phase. 'It's been a long week. It's one of these unusual weeks when you have to wait to the Monday,' admitted McInnes. 'Players had Sunday, Monday off, just on the back of the schedule they've had. We've worked three pretty tough days, three proper working days. We had the bounce game [against Dundee] on Wednesday. It still feels Monday is a million miles away, though. 'Normally, you get to this point in the week and you're getting the juices flowing for the game, but they're making us wait for this game. I think it will be worth the wait. I do think the positives of the game being Monday allows us to maybe get one or two closer to playing through the injury side of it. and obviously it gives us a wee bit longer to get one or two players registered and signed as well [Kabore and Magnusson]. We are trying to take the benefits of that. 'The game itself is everything you want from the first game of the season. A home game, live on Sky, sellout, up against a good team with good players. There will be a lot of good players on the pitch on Monday night. We just want to make sure we're as prepared as we can, which I think we are. We'd like to be more certain of who's available in terms of if we can get the people we want signed and in terms of one or two of the injuries, but that's not unusual on that side of it for a manager. Come Monday, we've just got to be ready to go. SPFL Scottish Premiership starts as Hearts look ready for Aberdeen at Tynecastle 'I think we look ready. We look fit, we look competitive, we look motivated. We look as if we've got good options. I think the pre-season, although it's never truly an indication, there have been plenty of goals, plenty of clean sheets and a nice feel-good factor. It's important that we try to keep this feeling as long as we can. Well aware there'll be a belt in the mouth around the corner, which we want to keep to a minimum this season. Hopefully we can just keep this feeling that we're all getting at the minute going. When the first game proper starts, as it will on Monday, just try and come out the other end of it with three points. Every manager this weekend will just try to get that first win as quickly as possible. We are no different.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Wednesday's bounce match at Riccarton ended in a 2-2 draw with Dundee. A number of Hearts first-team squad members were given game time. 'It was good. Dundee brought a strong team down. We had 14 training and we took the luxury of playing players that hadn't had enough 90 minutes,' explained McInnes. 'I think nine that played hadn't had 90 minutes throughout pre-season, such is the way. So, I think only [Michael] Steinwender and [Stephen] Kingsley had played 90 minutes for us in pre-season. 'Everybody else managed to get a bit of football and, from that point of view, it was quite a challenge for them in terms of getting through the game from a fitness point of view. They came through with flying colours. We were quite an attack-minded team with what we had on the pitch, but we competed well. Dundee got a lot from the game as well as we did. It's better for these boys to play a game rather than just continually training. I think it was much-needed for the lads that hadn't been involved as much.' As Scottish Cup holders who finished joint-fourth in last year's Premiership, Aberdeen again have serious aspirations under manager Jimmy Thelin. They started last season like a train but then lost momentum after Christmas. Winning the cup for the first time in 35 years brought a successful ending. 'I think they've got a lot of good players, first and foremost,' acknowledged McInnes. 'It was an unusual season from their point of view, how kind of up-and-down it was, but to finish the season with a cup win, good on them for that. They deserve a lot of credit. 'I think they'll be buoyant from that. A lot is expected of them again this season. Other clubs, ourselves included, have invested and are doing their own way of trying to recruit players. You're always mindful that others are doing their work well. We just need to make sure we try to do our job as well as we can. In terms of Monday night's game, I think it's a tough game for both teams, but hopefully we can make it tougher for them. They have got a lot of good players, players that can make a difference, and we've got to be aware of that.' READ MORE: Hearts team to face Aberdeen
The Courier
an hour ago
- The Courier
4 Dundee United talking points: What will Tangerines bank from Euro progress?
Iurie Iovu was Dundee United's European hero in Luxembourg, heading home the only goal of a scrappy contest against UNA Strassen. The win in Differdange secured a 2-0 aggregate triumph and teed up a tantalising crack at Austrian giants Rapid Vienna. Courier Sport was in the Grand Duchy to analyse the talking points from a victorious night. For those lucky enough to get one of the 1,018 golden tickets or the fans viewing on SolidSport, it was a tough watch. United, visibly a work in progress, surrendered possession too often, were second to myriad loose balls and left huge gaps for Strassen to play through, especially in the first period. With better finishing from Daryl Myre or Matheus de Souza, the Terrors' aggregate lead could have been wiped out. One can safely assume future Premiership opponents, and Rapid Vienna, will not be so profligate. And, to borrow a phrase from the dominant tongue in Luxembourg, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. A completely revamped team, containing 11 new players from across the continent; yet the questions surrounding Jim Goodwin's preferred 3-4-3 shape are identical to those being asked at this point last year. Namely: is there enough cover in midfield? Particularly when possession is turned over. United certainly have more mobility in the engine room this term but, unless they look after the football with more care, the tactic can be alarmingly open. United looked more solid after going to a 3-5-2 after the break. As the squad gels and on-field relationships build, United's 3-4-3 may click but, as Goodwin stated himself, 'that has to happen quickly'. Ideally by Sunday, because the Premiership opener at newly-promoted Falkirk is an occasion 15 years in the making for the Bairns and they can be expected to explode from the blocks. They will also be fresher and able to call upon far more match-specific preparation. Forget Rapid; John McGlynn's men are a sufficiently onerous prospect for the moment. The room for improvement is patently clear. But that should not blind fans to a solid achievement. After all, the result is what matters. Prior to Thursday evening, United had only won a two-legged European tie by keeping a clean sheet in both legs three times in their entire history. One must go back to Celtic against Nomme Kalju in 2019 for any Scottish side achieving that feat. Only three other bosses – Jim and Tommy McLean, and Jerry Kerr – had ever managed the club successfully through even one round. Goalkeeper Yevhenii Kucherenko has now played 60 minutes against PEC Zwolle, 45 minutes against St Johnstone and Oldham, and two games against Strassen and is yet to pick the ball out of his net. Similarly, centre-backs Krisztian Keresztes, Bert Esselink and Iovu are yet to concede a goal as a trio. United, meanwhile, progressed through a continental tie for the first time since 1997. Scottish clubs, United included, have not earned the right to greet that with a blasé shrug. No one who remembers the Terrors' ill-fated MyPa-47 tie in 2005 – or Rangers' visit to Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg in 2017, for that matter – should take the Tangerines' qualification for granted. That is especially true when considering that, this time just two years ago, United were kicking off a gruelling season in the Championship with a trip to Arbroath. It's been a hell of a journey, navigated in remarkably swift time. The prestige of a European clash against the 32-time champions of Austria, Rapid Vienna, is priceless. However, the monetary value of progressing to that rematch of United's 1983/84 European Cup quarter-final is not to be underestimated. United's continental adventure is now guaranteed to bank the club £750,000 in prize money. That is before considering the likelihood of a bumper, lucrative gate at Tannadice against Rapid – especially if the tie is still alive after next Thursday's trip to Vienna – and associated broadcast revenue. If they had exited against Strassen, they would have earned £440,000. A sizable chunk less. So, while the performance may have left plenty to be desired, progression was all that mattered – on the pitch AND the balance sheet. At a time when United are still actively seeking reinforcements, that additional £300,000 could make a material difference. 'My biggest wish is to be healthy throughout this season.' Words that now echo with cruelty. The Macedonian winger lost months of last season with persistent hamstring issues and, even when he regained a semblance of fitness, the former FK Shkupi man didn't hit the heights of his early form. As outlined to Courier Sport earlier this week, Trapanovski has worked tirelessly over the summer to ensure he reported for duty in peak condition. His form in pre-season was heartening. Then, just 41 minutes into the second leg against Strassen, he clutched the back of his leg as he sought to catch a long pass. Another hamstring strain. One can only hope, for the player's sake and United's, that the damage is nothing too severe.
