The 2024 New Years Honours List has been unveiled and a number of sports stars have been recognised including ex-England boss Gareth Southgate and former British Lion Gerald Davies
The 2024 New Years Honours List has been unveiled and a number of sports stars have been recognised including ex-England boss Gareth Southgate and former British Lion Gerald Davies The 2024 New Years Honours List has been unveiled and a number of sports stars have been recognised including ex-England boss Gareth Southgate and former British Lion Gerald Davies
Former Wales and British Lions winger Gerald Davies was left “dumbstruck” learning about his knighthood.
Davies, who also served as president of the Welsh Rugby Union, was recognised in the King’s New Year’s Honours for services to his sport and voluntary and charitable service in Wales. He represented his country between 1966 and 1978, winning three Grand Slams, while also touring twice with the Lions.
Davies, 79, said: “I feel very emotional about it. I am surprised. 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.”
Nine-time Paralympic champion Hannah Cockcroft, was made a CBE, and Olympic 800 metre gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson, became an MBE. Cyclist Tom Pidcock and swimmer Duncan Scott are both upgraded to OBEs along with Helen Glover, who came out of retirement to land a rowing silver medal in the women’s four at the Paris Olympics.
Also becoming MBEs from the Olympics, are rowing champions Lola Anderson, Georgie Brayshaw, Emily Craig, Imogen Grant, Lauren Henry and Hannah Scott, cyclists Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant, trampoline gold medallist Bryony Page and kite-surfing winner Ellie Aldridge.
Athletics stars Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who won her first Olympic medal with heptathlon silver in Paris, and three-time medallist Dina Asher-Smith are also made MBEs. Penny Briscoe, the director of sport at the British Paralympic Association who also served as Chef de Mission for the fifth time in Paris, is made a CBE for services to Paralympic sport.
Alongside Cockroft, 23 other Paralympic gold medallists from Paris are honoured, including OBEs for swimmers Tully Kearney and Alice Tai, cyclist Jaco Van Gass, and rowers Lauren Rowles and Erin Kennedy, the latter of whom is also acknowledged for her work with breast cancer awareness.
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Other OBEs are former Formula One racer Martin Brundle, for services to motor racing and sports broadcasting, and ex-West Ham boss David Moyes.
Alan Hansen, the Liverpool great and ex-BBC pundit, has been made an MBE for services to football and broadcasting. Huddersfield Giants owner and chairman Ken Davy has been awarded the OBE for his services to community rugby league.
Also in rugby league, long-serving match official Tony Martin receives the same award. Leeds Rhinos owner Paul Caddick – who presided over the greatest era in the club’s history – and Sheffield Eagles Foundation development manager Andrea Dobson, the former England captain, gained MBEs.
Full New Years Honours List for Sport:
Gerald Davies – knighthood
Gareth Southgate – knighthood
Tom Pidcock – OBE
Duncan Scott – OBE
Helen Glover – OBE
Tully Kearney – OBE
Alice Tai – OBE
Jaco Van Gass – OBE
Lauren Rowles – OBE
Erin Kennedy – OBE
Martin Brundle – OBE
David Moyes – OBE
Ken Davy – OBE
Tony Martin – OBE
Paul Caddick – MBE
Andrea Dobson – MBE
Alan Hansen – MBE
Keely Hodgkinson – MBE
Lola Anderson – MBE
Georgie Brayshaw – MBE
Emily Craig – MBE
Imogen Grant – MBE
Lauren Henry – MBE
Hannah Scott – MBE
Sophie Capewell – MBE
Emma Finucane – MBE
Katy Marchant – MBE
Bryony Page – MBE
Ellie Aldridge – MBE
Sabrina Fortune – MBE
Katarina Johnson-Thompson – MBE
Dina Asher-Smith – MBE
Hannah Cockcroft – CBE
Penny Briscoe – CBE
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