Prince William leads FA 150th anniversary celebrations

Prince William has led the Football Association's 150th anniversary celebrations and declared he would like his son to be present the next time Aston Villa beat Manchester United.

The FA president will be at a dinner on Saturday to mark the occasion.

The event will be staged at London's Grand Connaught Rooms - the site where the founders of English football met on 26 October 1863.

"When Villa thrash Man United at Villa Park, my son will be there," he joked.

Premier League players are wearing FA 150th anniversary T-shirts during their pre-match warm-ups on Saturday.

And at the gala dinner, William, the Duke of Cambridge, is expected to be joined by Fifa president Sepp Blatter, Uefa president Michel Platini, England manager Roy Hodgson and England World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton.

Villa fan William, whose first child George was born on 22 July, added: "I've always loved football since I was a young boy. I've never got any better at it, but I keep saying to myself, 'If you keep trying, eventually something will happen'.

"It's always meant a great deal to me, being president of the FA. There's a lot of good that football can do around the world, and in this country."

William also said in his video message: "It's extremely important to me that grassroots football is acknowledged in the FA's 150th year and without it there wouldn't be any Premiership players who are worth supporting."