-Credit:Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former England football manager Gareth Southgate has been rewarded with a knighthood in the New Year Honours.
Under his leadership, England reached two consecutive European Championship finals and the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, marking him as the most successful England boss since Sir Alf Ramsey. After leaving his post following the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain in July, 54-year-old Southgate joins an elite group of knights alongside Ramsey, Sir Walter Winterbottom, and Sir Bobby Robson.
In other sporting accolades, Welsh rugby icon Gerald Davies has also received a knighthood for his contributions to rugby and his charitable work in Wales. His illustrious career saw him represent Wales from 1966 to 1978, achieve three Grand Slams and make his mark with the Lions on their 1968 and 1971 tours.
READ MORE: Manchester United vs Newcastle highlights and reaction as Reds suffer fourth straight defeat
READ MORE: Shock Marcus Rashford decision made ahead of Manchester United vs Newcastle
A clearly moved Davies shared with PA news agency: “I feel very emotional about it. I am surprised by it. Words are really quite inadequate to describe it. It comes out of the blue. I was dumbstruck in many ways, but you don’t achieve these things on your own.”
The country’s honour list also highlights the extraordinary success of Team GB’s athletes in Paris 2024. Among them, Hannah Cockcroft, nine-time Paralympic champion, has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), while Keely Hodgkinson, Olympic 800m gold medallist, now holds the title Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Cockroft has expressed profound delight, saying: “Being put forward for the New Year Honours list is just the perfect ending to an incredible year. It’s been a big year with two golds and a silver medal at the World Championships in Japan in May, two gold medals at the Paralympics in Paris this summer, and a wedding – so it was a surprise to get my letter, but such a proud moment.”
BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner Hodgkinson sits among 14 Olympic champions from the 2024 Games to receive commendations. Respected cyclists Tom Pidcock and Duncan Scott are set to be appointed as Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), an honour they share with rower Helen Glover.
Glover, who bagged two Olympic gold medals in previous games and added a silver in Paris, returned to competition post-maternity leave. The esteemed athlete voiced her gratitude to PA news agency: “It’s such an honour to be awarded an OBE.”
“I was determined that this Olympic journey would lead to winning a medal in front of three children and I felt supported by the parenting community. It makes me very proud to be recognised for trying to make a difference within this space.”
Rowing champions Lola Anderson, Georgie Brayshaw, Emily Craig, Imogen Grant, Lauren Henry, and Hannah Scott, along with cyclists Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane, and Katy Marchant, have been named MBEs. Trampoline gold medallist Bryony Page and kite-surfing champion Ellie Aldridge are also receiving the honour.
Page, who secured gold in Paris following silver and bronze medals at the previous two Games, said: “This MBE is a wonderful accolade after such a fantastic year for me, one I am incredibly proud of, but more important I feel it is in recognition of years of dedication and efforts of my support team around me.”
Aldridge, celebrating kite-surfing’s Olympic debut with a gold medal off the coast of Marseille, shared her excitement: “I feel very honoured to be on the New Year Honours list. It really has been an amazing year, and this feels like the cherry on the cake. I didn’t go to university and I never thought I’d ever have any letters after my name, let alone MBE.”
Athletics stars Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who clinched her first Olympic medal with heptathlon silver in Paris, and three-time medallist Dina Asher-Smith are also made MBEs. Johnson-Thompson said: “I am deeply honoured to be recognised in the King’s New Years Honours list for services to athletics.My small contribution has only been possible due to the huge contributions made by so many others in helping me to chase and achieve my dreams over the last 20 years.”
Penny Briscoe, the esteemed director of sport at the British Paralympic Association who took on the role of Chef de Mission for an impressive fifth time in Paris, has been honoured with a CBE for her contributions to the world of Paralympic sports. Speaking to the PA news agency, Briscoe expressed her feelings: “As a passionate sports fan I feel both incredibly proud and humble to receive a CBE.”
“I am forever grateful for the opportunities I have been given and the unforgettable experiences I have had with the support of dedicated and talented athletes and staff.”
Additionally, 23 Paralympic champions from the recent games in Paris also received recognition, including OBEs awarded to swimmers Tully Kearney and Alice Tai, cyclist Jaco Van Gass, and rowers Lauren Rowles and Erin Kennedy, the latter also noted for her advocacy in breast cancer awareness. The honours list also sees the awarding of OBE status to one-time Formula One driver Martin Brundle, praising his achievements in both motor racing and sports broadcasting, and David Moyes, most recently the manager of West Ham United
Marking his legacy in football and television, former Liverpool icon and long-serving BBC analyst Alan Hansen has been bestowed upon an MBE for his service in these fields. Additionally, Dawn Astle, who established the Jeff Astle Foundation to push for enhanced research into the impact of head injuries in football, a cause close to her heart following her father’s dementia-related death in 2002, has been recognised with an MBE.