Students from Baschurch Primary School and Christ Church Primary School went to St George's Park today to represent Shrewsbury Town in a football tournament that celebrated the ten-year anniversary of it being the FA's home.
Shrewsbury Town Foundation invited Baschurch's girls team and Christ Church's boys team to feature in the tournament under Shrewsbury's name.
The youngsters got to meet HRH Prince William and even had a surprise visit from the England manager Gareth Southgate.
It wasn't just memorable off the pitch as the girls side came out victorious and the boys team made it as far as the semi-finals.
Simon Tisdale, primary education manager at the Shrewsbury Town Foundation, said the day had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the youngsters and the adults who had joined them and retold HRH Prince William's stories about his own footballing experiences.
Tisdale said: "He [Prince William] was spending quite a bit of time speaking to one of the young boys. He said to him well done for being a goalkeeper because you have to be brave and sometimes you have to take a few shots, and he said his son George has to take a few shots from himself when he goes in goal.
"It was a really nice moment where he was relating to him."
Tisdale added that the surprise appearance of Gareth Southgate was "a joy to see" and that his pupils' faces "lit up" at the chance to meet the high-profile visitor.
He said: "We were really lucky to meet Gareth Southgate. Our Baschurch girls got there quite early and Gareth Southgate was walking past and luckily offered his time to sign their boots and shirts and take a few pictures with them.
"That was really inspirational for the girls, they were made up by that – and we were really inspired ourselves because Gareth was the one who came over to us.
"Those are the moments when you look back and think 'why we do this', these are the moments that put it into perspective because that is where you are going to inspire the next generation not just in sport, but giving young people the drive to want to do well in life."
"We are trying to inspire children from a young age to engage with sport and PE and use the power of PE to give them opportunities and inspire them to better themselves, really instilling the Shrewsbury Town values."
He added: "One moment really stood out for me. I chose someone as our captain and I chose them, not because of football ability but because all the values you want are embedded in them on the pitch.
"That shone when one of their opponents took a tumble and the referee had not stopped the game but our player stopped to pick that child up. That really shows those values."
