In recognition of the achievements and contributions of the entire British people, the British Royal Family generally publishes a list of the British Empire's Medals twice a year – the monarch's birthday and New Year's Day. The ceremonies of awarding medals are always highly anticipated, the most famous of which is the knighthood ceremony, in which the monarch holds a symbolic sword and gently taps the shoulder of the knighted person. Given queen Elizabeth II's 70-year reign, we always see Elizabeth II attending the ceremony, with Occasional Crown Prince Charles attending the ceremony.
There are 5 grades of the British Empire Medal, from highest to lowest, they are the Grand Cross of the Knighthood, the Commander's Order, the Commander's Medal, the Officer's Order, and the Order of the Officer., respectively. However, only citizens of the Kingdom of The United Kingdom who have been awarded the Grand Cross or the Knighthood of the Order of commander are considered knightly titles, and the title of "Sir/Dame" can be added before their English name, or the title of "Sir/Lady" after their Chinese name, which is what we call "Sir so-and-so".
Order of the British Empire
Throughout the history of British football, there are only a dozen former football players who can be knighted, most of them are the heroes of England's victory in the World Cup on home in 1966, but there are also cases where football players who are not citizens of the British or Commonwealth Kingdoms can "add officials to the knighthood", this person is the king of ball Pele. Why Maradona, who is also the king of the ball, has not been knighted, I think everyone knows the reason.
Here's a look at some of the soccer stars who "knighted" during Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
Bobby Charlton: Born on 11 October 1937 in Ashinton, Northumberland, England. During his time at Manchester United, he played for the club in 759 games and scored 249 goals, ranking second in the list of appearances and goals in the history of Manchester United clubs, helping Manchester United win the 1968 European Champions Cup and three English Football League titles, and was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1966. He made 106 appearances for England's men's football team, scoring 49 goals, ranking second in England's all-time top scorer list, helping England win the 1966 World Cup and the 1968 European Championship. In June 1994, Bobby Charlton was knighted by the Queen of the United Kingdom.
Stanley Matthews: Born on 1 February 1915 in Hanley, Stanfordshire, England. He made 698 appearances in his career, played 54 for his country, scored 11 goals, and was awarded the European Footballer of the Year in 1956 at the age of 41. On 23 February 1965, Queen Elizabeth II conferred on him the title of "Knight of the British Empire" at Buckingham Palace.
Matthews was named the first European Footballer of the Year
Bobby Robson: Born on 18 February 1933 in Sacriston, England. He joined Fulham at the age of 17 and made a total of 152 appearances for the team, scoring 68 goals. He then moved to West Bromwich Albion, scoring 56 goals in 239 games. On 15 June 2002, Robson was knighted by the British royal family.
Giov Hurst: Born on 8 December 1941 in Andreaine, Ashton, England. Helped West Ham win the 1964 FA Cup and the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup. He scored 24 goals in 49 appearances for the England national team and scored a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final, helping England to win the World Cup for the first time. In total, he scored 323 goals in 723 career appearances. In 1998, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom knighted him at Buckingham Palace.
Tom Finney: Born on 5 April 1922 in Preston, England, He was voted Best Player in 1954 and 1958, becoming the first person in British history to be voted Best Player twice. On New Year's Day in 1998, Finney was knighted.
Matt Busby: Born on 26 May 1909 in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. He became Head Coach of Manchester United in 1945. From 1952 to 1957, he led Manchester United to three league titles. In 1958, he became one of the few survivors of the "Munich Air Disaster". In 1968, he led the rebuilt Manchester United team to win the European Cup, and in the same year, Busby was named a lower-class knight. United were knighted after winning the European Cup in 1968.
Kenny Daglish: Born on 4 March 1951 in Manok, Glasgow, Scotland. The first player to score 100 league goals in England and Scotland, he was hailed as the greatest English footballer of his time. After retiring, he was equally successful as a coach, one of three coaches who led two different teams to win the English top flight title. The first player to make 100 appearances for Scotland, the final 102 is still a Scottish record, with Dennis Law holding the record for the highest goal scored by 30 goals. In 2018, he was knighted by the British Royal Family.
The king was knighted and "demoted"
Alex Ferguson: There is no need to dwell on sir Alex Ferguson, who was awarded the rank of knight by the British Royal Family in 1999.
Lord Foy was born
There is also a football "celebrity" who has been working on the road to knighthood, and he is David Beckham.
Once upon a time, extramarital affairs never left Beckham, from his own assistant to the daughter of a Dutch diplomat to his daughter's tutor.
But suddenly one day, all the similar lace disappeared, Beckham began to create a good husband who loved the family, and it was no longer his lace that appeared in the newspapers and television stations, but the news that he had become a UNICEF ambassador and an image spokesperson for charitable organizations.
UNICEF Ambassador
Behind this transformation is that Beckham wants to create a good man's heart and charity, in exchange for the favor of the Royal Honor Committee, so that the Queen's sword can be pointed at his shoulder as soon as possible.
However, in 2014, the UK's Revenue and Customs Administration determined that David Beckham had avoided millions of pounds by investing in Ingenious Media. In the same year, the Spanish tax department also found that Xiaobei had used outsourced portrait rights to avoid taxes.
Received the Order of the Order of the Officer
The outbreak of the tax evasion scandal has made Beckham's road to knighthood full of ups and downs, in fact, Xiaobei was awarded the OBE (Official Order of The Order) in 2003, but 19 years later, he has not gone any further.