Captain fantastic Robertson made MBE for example on and off pitch
‘Outstanding contributions’
SCOTLAND captain Andy Robertson’s inspirational example on and off the football pitch has been recognised in the New Year Honours list.
The Liverpool defender, who is made an MBE for services to football, charity and young people, heads a host of Scottish names in sport, the arts and business to be rewarded in King Charles’s first honours list.
They are joined by many ‘ordinary citizens’ singled out for their outstanding community contributions, including a Scottish country dancing veteran, a distiller, a disabled charity campaigner and a lollipop lady.
Scottish internationals Kim Little and Jen Beattie join 59-times capped Robertson in being made MBEs, with Arsenal player Beattie recognised for services to football and to charity, while her team-mate for club and country, Little, who was Scotland’s vice-captain at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, is honoured for services to association football.
Robertson, who has won Champions League and Premier League titles with his club and boasts 59 caps for his country, runs his own charitable foundation, AR26, which helps underprivileged children.
On the foundation’s website, Robertson, 28, said its aim was to ensure all youngsters have the best possible start in life, adding: ‘As a footballer, I recognise I am in a fortunate position in which I can use my voice and connections to influence change.’
Also honoured is Ian Reid, who was chief executive of the organising committee of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. He is made a CBE for services to sport.
Elsewhere, David Sutherland, illustrator of The Beano, becomes an OBE for services to illustration, while Andrew Crummy, the artist behind the 469ft long Great Tapestry of Scotland, is made an MBE, following in his mother Helen’s footsteps.
Mr Crummy, 63, said: ‘I think she’d be really proud of [my work] because it’s carrying on her tradition of community arts projects.’
James McEwan from Islay, four times master distiller of the year, is made an MBE.
British Empire Medals go to Lucy Lintott, 28, from Moray, who has motor neurone disease, for her tireless campaigning and fundraising to tackle the condition, and Sinclair Barbour, from Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, who for more than four decades has inspired people to learn the skills of Scottish country dancing.
Two people who helped save one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s tea rooms in Glasgow have been made MBEs. Celia Sinclair Thornqvist, founder and patron of The Willow Tea Rooms Trust, and Professor Pamela Robertson have been honoured for their work to restore the architect’s original Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street.
Joyce Murray, 79, of East Dunbartonshire, receives the British Empire Medal for 50 years’ service to the Boys’ Brigade and 20 years as a crossing patrol attendant.
Professor Peter Mathieson, principal and vice-chancellor of Edinburgh University, said he was ‘honoured’ to be one of three Scots knighted.
Other knighthoods went to William Robertson, founder of Elgin-based building firm Robertson Group, for services to the industry and to charity in Scotland, and to Keith Skeoch, a former chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen who now chairs the Edinburgh International Festival board, for services to finance.
Three women are created dames: Anita Frew, the first female chairman in Rolls-Royce’s history, for services to business and the economy; Dr Julie Maxton, executive director of the Royal Society and originally from Edinburgh, for services to science and law; and Professor Heather McGregor, provost and vice-principal of Heriot-Watt University, Dubai, for services to education, business and heritage.
Others recognised include Professor David Crossman, former chief scientist to the Scottish Government, who is made a CBE for services to public health, while Stuart Liddell, pipe major of Inveraray and District Pipe Band, is made an MBE for services to piping and music education.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: ‘This year’s New Year Honours list underlines the outstanding contributions made by Scots to the life of the nation.’