Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, has called on the Football Association (FA) to embrace governance reform or get “left behind”.

Delivering a speech at Wembley Stadium to mark his 10-year anniversary as FA president, the Duke said that “our governance structure is in danger of falling short of modern standards of best practice” and as Britain’s national sport football “ought to be leading the way”.

“There is a wind of change blowing through global sporting governance and we need to ensue we do not get left behind,” he said. “I know the organisation is currently reviewing the issue and there is an opportunity to seize the initiative by the way in which we reform ourselves.”

The Duke – who took over the presidency from his uncle Prince Andrew – acknowledged that it was an “emotive issue” and one that the FA board members, whom he was addressing, “had a stake in deciding”.

FA chair Greg Dyke has spent a significant proportion of his tenure attempting to reform the FA council by making it more representative of Britain in its diversity. He has also tried to release more money to go towards grassroots football and coaching, although both suggestions have proved unpopular in some quarters.

As a result the former BBC director general announced that he would be stepping down from his position after July’s FA Council meeting after conceding that there would not be a “unanimous position on governance reform in the board”.

“What now appears to be the case is that there is a majority position on the board for much needed significant reform,” he said in January. “I fully support this but I recognise it is going to be a fight to get through the FA Council.”