Lionesses lead New Year Honours as Sarina Wiegman made honorary Dame ...Middle East

England’s Lionesses have dominated the New Year Honours list after retaining their crown as European champions at Euro 2025 this summer.

Lionesses’ manager Sarina Wiegman, who has now won the Euros twice with England and once with her home country the Netherlands, is awarded an honorary damehood.

Captain Leah Williamson is made a CBE and Alex Greenwood, Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone, who were all part of the side that beat Spain in the final in Basel, Switzerland, in July, become MBEs.

Following a memorable year for women’s sport, members of England’s Red Roses have also received honours after winning the 2025 Rugby World Cup, with Marlie Packer and Zoe Aldcroft becoming OBEs, along with coach John Mitchell.

Teammates Ellie Kildunne, Sadia Kabeya, and Megan Jones are made MBEs after the Red Roses beat Canada in September’s final.

Other notable recipients include actor Idris Elba, who receives a knighthood, and Olympic champion ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who are made a dame and sir.

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo is made an MBE for services to music and drama, while football commentator Clive Tyldesley, known for his “Solskjaer has won it” line as Manchester United claimed the 1999 Champions League, becomes an OBE for services to sports broadcasting and to charity.

Sir Idris, 53, known for his roles in The Wire and Luther, is knighted for services to young people, having founded the Elba Hope Foundation, which looks to combat knife crime in London.

He said: “I hope we can do more to draw attention to the importance of sustained, practical support for young people and to the responsibility we all share to help them find an alternative to violence.”

Dame Jayne and Sir Christopher, who won gold at the 1984 Winter Olympics, are recognised for services to ice skating and voluntary service.

The duo, who later became the faces of celebrity competition show Dancing on Ice, said the honour is “wonderful and humbling at the same time”.

They join other recognised stars who rose to fame in notable partnerships, such as Paul Elliott, one half of the Chuckle Brothers, and Matt Lucas, half of the comeic Little Britain duo.

Paula Radcliffe, who won the London Marathon three times and held the women’s marathon world record for 16 years, is made an OBE.

Elsewhere, The Kumars At No 42 actress Meera Syal, 64, becomes a dame and broadcaster Gabby Logan, actor Warwick Davis and presenter and author Richard Osman are made OBEs.

Osman, 55, who writes The Thursday Murder Club book series, said he was “absolutely thrilled” with the recognition, while Davis, also 55, said: “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’ve been in Star Wars.”

Speaking of her honour, Wiegman said: “I would like to express my sincere gratitude for this honour.

“When I first arrived in England, I could never have imagined the respect and warmth I’ve experienced from the English people. I deeply thank the fans for their support.”

The Lionesses were rewarded after stirring the ambitions of a generation of schoolgirl footballers once again and in a year where the campaigning of the Lioness squad saw the Football Association hit a target of 90 per cent of schools in England offering girls equal access to football in PE lessons.

In 2022, the entire squad issued an open letter to the Government call for all girls to have access to at least two hours of football training in PE each week. The letter came after The i Paper highlighted that schoolgirls were not guaranteed to be offered the same football lessons as boys.

Since the Lionesses’ intervention, the number of schools offering equal access to football has increased from 67 per cent to the FA target of 90 per cent.

However, a gender gap remains as girls are still half as likely to play football at school compared with boys. Figures from the 2025 Childwise monitoring report, shared with The i Paper in July, show boys are still almost twice as likely as girls to play the sport in school – 59 per cent, compared with 33 per cent.

Campaigners have said more must be done to secure the Lionesses legacy. Adem Ali, a former semi-professional footballer and founder of Tottenham-based football club Haringey Girls Academy, told The i Paper: “You’ve got a lot of areas that will offer girls’ football, but generally offer it as alongside boys. They don’t want to play mixed football; they want to play girls football.

“There is a huge demand, it’s just [a question of] can you break down each of those barriers?”

Former NHS boss Amanda Pritchard, who led the health service during the second half of the Covid-19 pandemic, said she was “deeply honoured” at the news of being made a dame.

Her resignation was announced in February, and just weeks later, the Government said NHS England would be abolished to cut bureaucracy and bring the health service “back into democratic control”.

About three dozen NHS staff including nurses, surgeons and GPs have been recognised for their service in the New Year Honours.

Betty Brown – a 92-year-old woman thought to be the oldest victim of the Horizon IT scandal – said it was a “shocker” to have been made an OBE for seeking justice for sub-postmasters.

D-Day veteran Mervyn Kersh, 101, said it is a “wonderful thing” to be awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to Holocaust remembrance and education.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “This year’s Honours list celebrates the very best of Britain – people who put the common good ahead of themselves to strengthen communities and change lives.”

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This year’s list features 1,157 recipients – half of whom are women, marking the strongest representation since 2003, according to the Cabinet Office.

The oldest on the list is 102-year-old John Hearn, one of four centenarians included, who receives a BEM for services to judo and to the community in North East England.

The youngest recipient this year is 20-year-old Olympic gold medal-winning sports climber Toby Roberts, who becomes an MBE.

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