Four members of England’s European Championship winning team have been given awards in the King’s New Year’s Honours.
Arsenal and England captain Leah Williamson was given an Order of the British Empire (OBE), while teammates Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead, and Ellen White were all awarded the title Member of the British Empire (MBE).
White is England’s all-time leading goalscorer, while Bronze and Mead have been England’s standout players over the last 12 months.
Mead was also awarded BBC Sports Personality of the Year earlier this month, the first female footballer to win the award.
England beat Germany 2-1 in the final at Wembley, with Chloe Kelly’s goal in extra-time giving the nation their first major honour since the men’s side won the 1966 World Cup.
Dutch head coach Sarina Wiegman was made an honorary Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Foreign Office list.
Bronze called it “special and pretty amazing”, adding: “It’s something for my family that will make them very proud”.
Explaining how the players had been chosen, Sir Hugh Robertson, chairman of the honours sports committee, said: “What we’ve tried to do is stick to the principle of the honours system which is to recognise excellence and to recognise extraordinary contributions.”
He added that otherwise: “you get people who’ve done five minutes on the pitch… getting an award”.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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