King just wants a ‘good game’ from ‘Battle of Britain’ World Cup match

Lucas Cumiskey, PA
·2 min read

The King just wants a “good game of football” from England’s World Cup clash against Wales, a former player has claimed.

Gary Bennett said he asked Charles who he will be supporting in the match, after collecting his MBE at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.

Investitures at Windsor Castle
Gary Bennett, Patron of Show Racism The Red Card, is made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the King (Yui Mok/PA)

Mr Bennett’s work with educational charity Show Racism The Red Card earned him the gong for services to anti-racism in football.

Speaking at the investiture ceremony, he told the PA news agency that getting his award from the King was the “icing on the cake”.

The former Sunderland AFC star added: “I was able to have a three or four-minute chat with him so that was fantastic, around football and especially tonight with the England vs Wales game, it sort of put him on the spot.

“I did ask who he’s going to support really in the game between England and Wales, I think he just wanted a good game of football.”

Pressed on what Charles said, he added: “He just wanted a good game.”

Investitures at Windsor Castle
Gary Bennett, Patron of Show Racism The Red Card, after being made a MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by the King at Windsor Castle (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Sharing his own thoughts, Mr Bennett said it will be a “difficult game for Wales on paper” but said they could get lucky on the night.

However, he said: “If they do get it right then England should win.”

On what more should be done to kick racism out of football, he said: “It’s not just racism, again, it’s about discrimination.

“I think it has been well highlighted, especially with the World Cup being in Qatar, but we’ve got to hopefully continue educating ourselves and educating people and raising the awareness.”

Dame Nia Griffith, Labour MP for Llanelli, Wales, was also excited about the so-called ‘battle of Britain’ football match.

Investitures at Windsor Castle
Dame Nia Griffith after being made a Dame Commander by the King (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Dame Nia, who collected her gong at the ceremony, said: “I’m very excited about the game tonight because I do think that when the Welsh get fired up and when the Welsh are facing the English you absolutely get the best out of them.

“And although we may not have been, shall we say, exactly enthused by their performance so far in Qatar, we are looking forward to tonight making up for all of that and looking forward to a fabulous victory.”

The two home nations meet at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium for their final group B fixture on Tuesday.

Tennis star Emma Raducanu also collected an MBE at the investiture ceremony.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Why autism and ADHD self-diagnosis may be inaccurate

    Every few months, 52-year-old Peter* would find himself in trouble with his wife. Sitting silently during an argument and unable to speak, he couldn’t process anything levelled at him. He didn’t know what was wrong, except noticing that he had a weird pattern of “getting stuck in a rut”, hyper-fixating on interests such as programming and PC gaming at the expense of spending time with his wife.

  • Bitter neighbour boundary dispute been settled in court - after raging for DECACES

    A bitter neighbour boundary dispute has been settled in court - after raging for DECADES. The row between two warring pensioners revolves around a quarter of an acre of disputed territory - with both parties saying it has cost them tens of thousands and affected their mental health. Angela Coupe, 70, claims she first bought 1.5 acres of land in 1972, a five minute drive from her detached bungalow in Chesterfield, which she used for horses in 1974. She built a wooden post along a concrete boundary which she said had been there since the 1930s. The retired social worker and former Marie Curie nurse said she was “horrified” when she caught her neighbour Ian Revell, 66, and his late father moving the posts in her field in the mid 1990s and approached them. She claims that she is entitled to 1.5 acres, and that the Revell family sold a quarter of an acre in 1945, leaving them with 0.77 of an acre. However, Mr Revell has refused to budge and hit back at her claims. He claims they are each entitled to one acre, meaning that Angela is currently encroaching by taking half an acre more than she is entitled to. For nearly 30 years the two families have been at loggerheads, but Southern Derby Magistrates Court has now ruled in favour of Mr Revell with a judge ruling his adversary had lied about putting up a fence. Following the verdict, Angela said she was "appalled" while Ian said it was only right as he claimed the plot had been in his family for years. Angela has levelled the land she believes she owns and placed the good soil inside her boundary for further use for the land. She has also now claimed Mr Revell trapped the top soil in when he moved the fence. She uses the land for her animals, including four rescue pigs.

  • Springwatch's Chris Packham and stepdaughter Megan McCubbin unite for heartwarming cause

    The duo are raising money for the Bat Conservation Trust and the Helping Rhinos charity as part of Big Give's Green Match Fund campaign

  • KPMG hires former prisoners amid battle to reduce crime

    One of Britain’s Big Four accountancy firms is hiring former prisoners as part of the Government’s push to cut reoffending rates.

  • Former Labour minister Frank Field dies aged 81 after cancer battle

    Frank Field was director of the Child Poverty Action Group between 1969 and 1979, and the Member of Parliament for Birkenhead between 1979 and 2019

  • Q1 2024 Nucor Corp Earnings Call

    Q1 2024 Nucor Corp Earnings Call

  • Ofcom issues warning over politician presenters ahead of general election

    The regulator said breaches could result in sanctions.

  • Yen's slide toward 160 level could trigger action, says senior ruling party official

    Japan's ruling party is not yet in active discussion on what yen levels would be deemed worth intervening in the market, though the currency's slide towards 160 to the dollar could prod policymakers to act, party executive, Takao Ochi, told Reuters. "There is no broad consensus right now, but if the yen slides further toward 160 or 170 to the dollar, that may be deemed excessive and could prompt policymakers to consider some action," Ochi said in an interview on Tuesday. Right now, however, there has been little active discussion on what yen levels would be deemed appropriate for such action, said Ochi, the secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) research commission on the finance and banking systems.

  • Dow Jones Futures: Market Rallies, Tesla Soars As Elon Musk Touts 'Affordable' EV, Robotaxi

    The rally attempt is gaining steam. Tesla soared as Elon Musk said "affordable" EVs will come in 2025 and touted robotaxis.

  • Lloyds profits drop 28% after bumper 2023

    The banking group's results showed it had made less money from loans and mortgages compared with last year.

  • Shogun, review: historical epic shows others how it’s done with a finale of grace and guile

    The original 1980 Shōgun mini-series was a romping epic featuring gratuitous beheadings and a hunky Richard Chamberlain wandering around looking confused. Disney+’s new adaptation of James Clavell’s best-selling chronicle of dynastic rivalry in 17th-century Japan is far more sparing in its use of violence. The only ones likely to be stumbling around perplexed, meanwhile, are viewers who failed to give this dense but ultimately gripping historical drama the necessary attention.

  • Brokerage Haitong removes long-term Hong Kong unit chief Lin, appoints new head

    Chinese brokerage Haitong Securities removed Lin Yong from chief executive of its Hong Kong-based offshore unit, according to an internal memo and a company source with knowledge of the matter. Lin, who had been Haitong International Securities' CEO in Hong Kong since 2007, was removed from the top post, according to the memo reviewed by Reuters. He is one of the longest-serving helmsman at any Chinese investment bank in Hong Kong, leading the offshore unit to become one of the banks that issued the most offshore high yield bonds of Chinese companies in the last decade.

  • Pensioners' fears over income tax burden

    Charities report heightened concern among pensioners who fear being dragged into paying income tax.

  • Famous garden's cherry blossoms reveal hidden secret

    Stunning images show Alnwick Garden in full bloom – as social media users say the aerial shots reveal a saucy secret. The garden's famous cherry blossom orchard boasts the largest Taihaku orchard in the world with 329 trees. Amazing aerial photos and video show that despite the wet spring, the blossom has finally bloomed. Once the blossom falls, the tens of thousands of petals will be used to flavour a £35-a-bottle Cherry Blossom gin.

  • FTSE 100 Live 24 April: Lloyds profits slip; blue-chips at record levels again

    The rejuvenated FTSE 100 index touched a new record today in a session when the focus turned to UK banking stocks. Lloyds Banking Group kicked off the sector’s reporting season by posting a 28% fall in first quarter profits alongside unchanged full-year guidance. Other companies in the spotlight today included Reckitt Benckiser, Jet2 and the Carex business PZ Cussons.

  • 'It's Not New': Sally Nugent Leaves Grant Shapps Squirming Over Sunak's Defence Spending Pledge

    Experts say the extra spending is £55 billion less than the PM claimed.

  • Devil's Bend to stay shut into summer after Bramcote wall collapse

    Investigations are needed to be carried out before weeks of repairs could begin, a councillor said.

  • Baby Reindeer's Jessica Gunning Has A Message For People Trying To Work Out Martha's Real Identity

    "It's a real, real shame, because it shows that they haven't watched the show properly."

  • Amnesty denounces 'ongoing erosion' of human rights in France

    French authorities in 2023 imposed excessive and illegitimate restrictions on people’s right to demonstrate, the rights group Amnesty International said in a report published Wednesday. It pointed in particular to clampdowns on protests that saw arrests and the use of force during rallies against issues such as the government’s unpopular pensions reform, plans to build “mega-basin” water reservoirs in rural France, and the war in Gaza. Amnesty's 2023 annual report accuses the government of syste

  • ClearSign Technologies Corp (CLIR) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript Highlights: Significant ...

    Discover how CLIR's innovative strategies and financial achievements in Q4 2023 are setting the stage for future success.