England manager Gareth Southgate has collected his OBE at Buckingham Palace for services to football after leading the national team to the World Cup semi-finals.
Southgate, 48, received his gong one week after England captain Harry Kane, 25, was given an MBE at the palace.
A Crystal Palace academy graduate, Southgate also represented Aston Villa and Middlesbrough during his playing career before going on to manage the Teesside club. He was appointed England Under-21 manager in 2013 before being thrust into the senior role in 2016, following Sam Allardyce’s sacking.
The former defender, who missed the decisive penalty in England’s Euro 1996 semi-final shootout with Germany, was handed the role on a permanent basis in November 2016 after four games in temporary charge. Last summer Southgate lead the Three Lions to the semi-finals in Russia, their best World Cup run since 1990 in Italy.
Southgate is among about 100 people to be handed honours today including the composer Shirley Thompson, sculptor Alison Wilding and economist Tim Harford.
The ceremony also includes military and police personnel named in the New Year Honours list for 2019.
Southgate, who was joined by his wife Alison, wore a suit and his trademark waistcoat for the ceremony and received his OBE from Prince Charles.
It came as England climbed one place to fourth in FIFA's latest world rankings after their crushing Euro 2020 qualifying victories over the Czech Republic and Montenegro.
Southgate's men are headed only by Belgium, France and Brazil after leapfrogging Croatia, the side who ended their World Cup dream at the semi-final stage in Russia last summer.
England opened their Group A campaign with a 5-0 rout of the Czechs at Wembley before coming from behind to win 5-1 in Podgorica last month as their rich vein of form continued.
Southgate will next gather his squad in June to contest the inaugural Nations League finals in Portugal.
