ANFIELD GLORY KNIGHT
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DECADES after being crowned King Kenny Dalglish by fans who worshipped him for his silky skills on the pitch, the Liverpool legend now has an official title – Sir.
The former striker and manager, 67, is knighted for services to football, charity and the City of Liverpool.
Kenny leads a host of celebs, including boxer Anthony Joshua, Dunkirk star Tom Hardy and former University Challenge host Bamber Gascoigne to receive gongs in the Queen’s birthday honours list today.
The tireless fundraiser and Hillsborough justice campaigner said he was “hugely proud” of the award.
Glaswegian Kenny and wife Marina, who battled breast c ancer, have raised more than €10million to set up an oncology centre at University Hospital, Aintree, through their Marina Dalglish Appeal.
Speaking of the moment he got the letter offering him a knighthood, he said with a grin: “I thought it was the taxman. I saw a wee bit of the crown…”
Kenny, who managed Liverpool at the time of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 where 96 fans died, was honoured for the support he gave grieving families in their long quest for justice.
He added: “We only set out to do the best we possibly could, even through all the other stuff, the charity or Hillsborough, it was to help people because somebody helped us. “When I was a young boy in Glasgow I wouldn’t have had the words to give this honour due testimony, but we are hugely proud to have got this and for the people who have worked so hard to get here. We are immensely proud as a whole family to have got it but everyone should feel proud because they have all played a very important role in what we’ve done and where we have got to.”
But he insisted the honour would not change him and admitted he will feel strange being addressed as