Crediting her remarkable contribution to football, England women’s football coach Sarina Wiegman has been given the New Year Honours. She is among the 1,157 recipients to receive the honour. Joining Wigman are also several team members, including those after their European Championships last summer.
Wiegman led the Lionesses to two straight Euros titles, with the recent win in 2025, and are the first England football team to achieve the victory in such an event.
Expressing her excitement, Coach Wiegman offers her thanks to the fans for selecting her for such a prestigious honour. “When I first arrived in England, I could never have imagined the respect and warmth I’ve experienced. I deeply thank the fans for their support,” she said.
Lionesses captain and two-time European champion Leah Williamson has been given the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Meanwhile, recognising the contributions of other team players, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Alex Greenwood, and Georgia Stanway are all given the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBEs).
Besides, the Lionesses, England’s women’s rugby team, the Red Roses, have also been recognised for their success on the world stage. Their victory in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup earned their head coach, John Mitchell, and players Zoe Aldcroft and Marlie Packer the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBEs). On the other hand, players like Megan Jones, Sadia Kabeya and Ellie Kildunne are now MBEs.
Meanwhile, Russian ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are now Dame Jayne and Sir Christopher have been recognised for their services to the sport. The pair has won gold at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and are four-time ice dancing world champions with four European titles and a bronze medal won in the 1994 Olympics. Torvill and Dean did their final performance in the 2025 finale of Dancing on Ice.
On receiving the honour in their final year, Dame Jayne said, “It was a big thing for us to mark our career before retirement, and then receiving this award at the end of the year, it’s just finished everything. It’s perfect. We’re really humbled by it.”
Also included in the list of New Year Honours is Olympic runner Paula Radcliffe, who got an OBE. Daniel Levy, the former Tottenham Hotspur chairman, has now been appointed as a CBE. Also included in the list is former Welsh rugby player Jonathan Davies, who has been given the CBE honor as the Velindre Cancer Care Trust president.
