Rugby league honours: Anger at no knighthoods in 130 years
Rugby league authorities say their players have been "poorly treated" by the honours system, as pressure grows for a first knighthood or damehood for the sport.The sport has gone 130 years without such an honour."It is surprising and disappointing that the relevant authorities have still not deemed anyone worthy of a knighthood or damehood for their services to rugby league," said a spokesperson for the Rugby Football League, which governs the sport.The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, added his voice, telling BBC News the lack of rugby league knighthoods "cannot be right" when other sports, including rugby union, have had such honours "quite regularly".
The leader of a cross-party group of MPs who support rugby league has suggested the "scandal" of the lack of top honours for stars of the sport was linked to snobbery and class prejudice."This, I suspect, is because they come from working class backgrounds, didn't go to the right schools, and didn't mix in the right social circles," said David Baines, chair of the all-party Parliamentary rugby league group."Well enough is enough. It's 2025, and myself and other MPs are clear it's time for things to change."Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who is a former president of the Rugby Football League, said: "Rugby league has a long and proud history and is littered with examples of players who have excelled in the sport and inspired future generations to play the game."He says there is something wrong when the sport "cannot boast one single player, over its 130-year history, who has received a knighthood". "I want to see rugby league given the recognition it deserves and hope this will be addressed in the near future," said the Speaker.In contrast, rugby union, often seen as having more middle class roots, has been getting knighthoods for more than 100 years. Among more recent rugby knights was Sir Bill Beaumont, awarded "for services to rugby union football" in 2018.There have been many other sporting knighthoods and damehoods, including in athletics, yachting, football, golf, tennis, horse racing, cycling and rowing.
Next weekend will see the sport's showcase Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.And speaking on behalf of the MPs' rugby league group, Mr Baines said the lack of such an honour for rugby league was an unfairness to "some of Britain's greatest sporting heroes".That included "legends of the game who overcame racial and class prejudice such as Billy Boston and Clive Sullivan, to modern heroes on and off the pitch like Kevin Sinfield," said Mr Baines. England star Kevin Sinfield has raised more than £10m running for causes related to motor neurone disease, in memory of his late teammate Rob Burrow.Billy Boston was a celebrated Welsh-born rugby league player from the 1950s and 1960s, who is now aged 90. A petition was launched earlier this year to award him a knighthood."We do believe rugby league has historically been poorly treated in terms of recognition in various ways, including honours lists," said a spokesman for the Rugby Football League.There have been honours, such as CBEs and OBEs, but no knighthoods. The Prince of Wales personally gave Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow their CBEs last year at the ground in Leeds where they used to play.A BBC analysis earlier this year revealed that a disproportionately low number of top honours, such as knighthoods and damehoods, were going to people from the north of England and working class backgrounds - which overlaps with the rugby league heartlands.In the most recent New Year Honours only 6% of higher awards went to people in the north of England and 4% to people from working-class backgrounds.The government has recognised there are problems with under-representation in the honours and an independent chair is being recruited to improve diversity and outreach."The government wants to ensure that the honours system reflects the diversity of UK society. Anyone can nominate someone who has made an exceptional contribution to be recognised," said a government spokesman.
Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Bukayo Saka to miss England's World Cup qualifier against Andorra with injury
Bukayo Saka has been left out of England 's squad for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Andorra. Ollie Watkins left the camp due to a minor injury on the eve of the Group K clash. Conor Gallagher will also miss the Andorra game after being left out of the matchday squad. Saka had discomfort from the last match against Southampton, and was treated individually. England boss Thomas Tuchel said Saka will be available for the Senegal match.
Telegraph
36 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Dear Richard Madeley: ‘My housemate and I kissed and now she's avoiding me'
Dear Richard, I'm living in a shared house with one man and two women, one of whom is an old friend from university. We are all in our early 30s. We get on pretty well but tend to socialise with our own groups of friends outside the house – we don't do big Sunday lunches together or anything like that. A couple of weeks ago, one of the women – the one I don't know well – asked me if I wanted to go out to the pub. We went for a few drinks, and then we kissed on the way back to the house. Nothing has been said since, and I get the feeling she's avoiding me. I don't want her to feel uncomfortable about what happened, but I worry that if I try to clear the air I'll just make things worse. It's fine if she thinks it was a mistake – while I don't exactly hate the idea of our revisiting some sort of romantic situation, I haven't fallen head-over-heels in love or anything, plus I don't want to upset the 'chemistry' of the house. It's just that it now feels really awkward. Should I try to talk to her? –Ben, via email Dear Ben Hmm. I've always been cautious about initiating 'clear the air' conversations. In my experience, they can have the opposite effect, leaving the atmosphere clouded by confusion, embarrassment – and even antagonism. Often the wiser course is simply to let things lie and resolve themselves with the passage of time. If this woman is avoiding you, it's precisely because she doesn't want an air-clearing exchange with you. Maybe she's simply embarrassed about your brief clinch on the way home, or she feels guilty about it for some reason, or she just plain regrets it. Whatever the reason, she obviously doesn't want to talk about it. You should be sensitive to that. And in any case, it's hardly a big deal, is it? It was only a kiss or two (or maybe three?). These things happen. And if she wants to pretend that it didn't, I'd go along with it if I were you. Least said, soonest mended.
BBC News
43 minutes ago
- BBC News
Sheffield's Netherthorpe set for 20mph speed limit
A 20mph (32 km/h) speed limit is set to be introduced on roads in a city suburb following a public have recommended Sheffield councillors approve plans to cut the speed limit in Netherthorpe as part of the authority's strategy to improve road safety in residential areas.A report to be considered by councillors said that, so far, 65 "sign-only" 20mph areas had been introduced in Sheffield, in addition to 12 child safety zones, with a further six schemes currently under report noted that there had been an "unusually low" response to the public consultation over the Netherthorpe proposal, with only three emails in favour of the proposal and two against. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report stated that the low number of participants in the consultation could be "for a number of reasons"."Having looked at the address data, the area is predominantly flats/HMOs, and we tend to receive less interest in schemes (except for parking schemes) from student areas," it council said it was aiming to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions, lower people's fear of accidents, and encourage more sustainable City Council's transport, regeneration and climate policy committee is expected to make a final decision next Wednesday. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
