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Prince William attends the FA Cup Final and officially opens the new Wembley Stadium

18th May 2007

Prince William officially opened the new Wembley Stadium today as he attended the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United as President of The Football Association.

After seven years of construction, The FA Cup Final returned to its spiritual home with a final between the top two Premiership teams, Chelsea and Manchester United.

After a last minute goal in extra time by the London club, Prince William presented the FA Cup to triumphant Chelsea captain John Terry.

This is the second FA Cup Final Prince William has been to in his capacity as President.

Prince William became President of the Football Association in May 2006, taking over from The Duke of York at last season’s FA Cup Final in Cardiff.

Since then Prince William has met England players during a visit to a pre-World Cup training session in Manchester and also travelled to Germany for England’s first game against Paraguay.

Prior to this year's final, Prince William presented the The FA Cup Player of the Round Awards to players from teams from every round of the competition and joined senior FA officials for lunch.

On the pitch Prince William was presented with the FA cup by Private Johnson Beharry, holder of the Victoria Cross, before addressing an almost capacity crowd of 89,826 to declare the stadium officially open.

Marching bands paraded on the immaculate green turf, and the Red Arrows flew overhead, contributing to the tremendous sense of occasion felt by all involved.

After Chelsea's victory, Jose Mourinho said his team had made history by winning the last FA Cup at the old stadium and the first at the new one.

Speaking after the game, Jose said: "You are a country of traditions and the old Wembley means a lot for all of you and the new Wembley will mean even more."

Speaking about the new stadium, England legend Sir Geoff Hurst said he had now visited more times in the past two weeks than he ever did as a player.

He said: "It's absolutely magnificent and we have all forgotten all the trials and tribulations we have had over the last six or seven years.

"We invented the game of football. We deserve to have the best stadium in the world and now we have got it by far."

Frank Stapleton, who won the FA Cup with both Arsenal and Manchester United, said he was impressed by the stadium.

He said: "It is hard to compare with anywhere else in the world.

"I know the stadiums in Germany for the World Cup were first class but this is now at the top of the list again."

He added: "It's got a great history - long may it continue."