Manchester City icons Ellen White and Lucy Bronze have been recognised in the New Year honours list.
Bronze and White, who were key players in the Lionesses squad to help them win the Euros 2022 trophy, are being recognised with MBEs.
The pair both left Manchester City in the summer following the success of the European tournament.
White had been a key figure in England’s attack for more than a decade until her retirement from the game in August, while Barcelona right-back Bronze is arguably the England team’s highest-profile player, having been voted the best player in the world in 2020.
Bronze said it had been a “surreal” feeling to receive an email about the MBE, and said the first person she had told was her grandmother.
She told PA: “My Grandma probably doesn’t understand many of the awards I’ve won in football but she adored The Queen, so I thought ‘this (MBE) is going to be her special thing’.
“This year has been beyond expectation for all of us. We all wanted to win the Euros and to make a difference and to change women’s football in England. To have done that and more is incredible.”
White and Bronze's England teammates Leah Williamson and Beth Mead have also been recognised along with head coach Sarina Wiegman.
Other players from the women’s game being honoured are Wales captain Sophie Ingle, who becomes an OBE, and Scotland duo Kim Little and Jen Beattie, both MBEs.
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