PRINCE William paid a private visit to the Sporting Chance charity last week to speak to adult survivors caught up in football’s child sexual abuse scandal.

The Duke of Cambridge, who is the president of the Football Association (FA) visited the charity, based in the grounds of Champney’s Forest Mere health spa, at Liphook, on Tuesday.

It was set up by former England football captain and Arsenal defender Tony Adams, after he overcame a serious drinking problem playing for the Gunners, who he skippered to the league title four times – including the first to lift the FA Premiership trophy in 1992-93 – before going on to manage Portsmouth in the top flight, in 2009.

Sporting Chance works closely with victims affected by historic sexual abuse in football and the visit offered the prince a chance to better understand the need to look after the mental health of players.

The Duke said: “We have been very good at tackling things like racism and such in football – and the fact we are now seen to be leading the way in football and mental health is fantastic.

“We need to normalise this a lot more in stadiums around the country whenever we can, and people, fans, players, need to see that the clubs in particular have a huge role in promoting that message.”

“I’ve always felt those young men get put into the situation where they have amazing feet, their skill with the ball is unquestionable, but everyone forgets about the rest of the body, they forget about the head, they forget about how they have been brought up, about what they have been through.”

Prince William made reference to the death of Welsh captain Gary Speed, saying: “My understanding is following the tragic circumstances of Gary Speed, that started the ball rolling about people talking about their struggles and their problems, going, ‘Wow, if Gary Speed has these problems then I need to go see someone’. It’s great news in that sense if from something so horrendous, something so positive has come from that.

“But equally it’s very damning on all of us it has been brewing under there for a long time, these young men do not feel comfortable about some of this stuff.”

He added: “And it’s extraordinary in a business where you invest that amount of money into something, you want to know what you are getting – and you want to know everything. You want to look after what you have got.

“I do think the clubs do need to understand that better, you have to be careful you do not over-professionalise the industry. People’s mental well-being lives go beyond football.”

Tony Adams said: “It’s great he is showing an interest in what we do and it’s fantastic we can cement the partnership we’ve got with the FA.”

Ian Ackley, who suffered abuse as a child, called Prince William’s visit “hugely significant”.

He said: “I’ve been wanting to speak to anyone and everyone for a long time and in the last eight-nine months we’ve come a long way. To be able to sit and have an audience with the duke is just something I couldn’t ever have imagined.”

Sporting Chance has been helping clubs and athletes tackle issues including addiction, depression and anxiety since 2000, providing confidential support for current and former professional sportsmen.

Following criminal investigations into historic childhood sexual abuse last year, the FA approached the Liphook-based charity to set up a special support service for those that have been affected. One of the charity’s patrons is former Watford FC chairman Sir Elton John.

* Two ex-professional club coaches – including Bob Higgins, who was employed at Southampton from 1970 until 1996 – face dozens of charges relating to more than two dozen victims in two separate cases due at crown court later this year.