Arsenal Women stars Leah Williamson and Beth Mead are among those to be recognised in the New Year Honours List following a successful year with the Lionesses.
Captain for both club and country, Williamson helped guide England to glory at the Euros in the summer and secured their first international trophy. The 25-year-old, who has recently returned from injury, has been made an OBE.
England teammates Mead, Lucy Bronze and Ellen White will become MBEs. Arsenal's No. 9 secured the golden boot at Euro 2022 and was also named BBC's Sports Personality of the Year earlier this month.
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Only four Lionesses have been recognised on the list, which has drawn some criticism. Sir Hugh Robertson, chairman of the honours sport committee, explained the decision.
“The approach that we’ve tried to take with this is when we have these events there is a danger in sort of carpet bombing the entire squad because then you get people who’ve done five minutes on the pitch and get an award,” he said.
“So what we’ve tried to do is stick to the principle of the honours which is to recognise excellence and to recognise extraordinary contributions.”
Arsenal's Kim Little has also been awarded an MBE as captain of Scotland, while Jen Beattie, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, has also become an MBE for services to football and charity.
Beattie, who said she “burst out crying” when she received the news of her honour, told the PA news agency: “It’s unbelievable.
“I think when you go through your career, you never expect to be recognised amongst such incredible names, you just never put yourself in that category. I’m beyond proud. It’s something I never even dreamed of or expected, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
Beattie says the recognition of her charity work, which includes working with Cancer Research UK, is “definitely the part I’m most proud of”.
“Work like that to raise awareness, to encourage people to check themselves, go to GP appointments, that’s something that’s been most important to me, because it ultimately saved my life, going to get checked,” said Beattie, who received the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2021.
“I’m Arsenal academy ambassador now and it’s something I want to educate people about from a young age, how to do it, how to check, not leaving it too late, going to get checked.”
This year's quartet join a long list of Arsenal legends to be named on the honours list. Rachel Yankey, who made just shy of 200 appearances for the Gunners during her playing days, was initially awarded an MBE in 2005 and later received an OBE in 2013 for her service to the women's game.
Alex Scott received an MBE in 2016, while another Arsenal great Kelly Smith was awarded her MBE in 2008. Casey Stoney, Faye White and Fara Williams are all former Arsenal stars who have also been recognised in the past.
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