Award for player who lost leg but gave all to football
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Your support makes all the difference.A footballer who could have been an England centre-forward but for a collision with a goalkeeper 50 years ago that cost him a leg is appointed MBE for services to the sport.
Derek Dooley scored 63 goals in as many games as centre forward for Sheffield Wednesday. But at 23, with a call-up to the national side beckoning, he developed gangrene in his injured leg and it had to be amputated.
The son of a Sheffield steelworker then devoted himself to football in the city, first as manager of Wednesday before he was put in charge of arch-rivals Sheffield United.
Mr Dooley, 73, said: "For a local lad who left school at 14 to end up as managing director and then chairman of a football club is not bad. I'm very proud of that."
Other figures from sports administration to be honoured include the organisers of this summer's acclaimed Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, is knighted while Frances Done, the Games' chief executive, and Charles Allen, the chairman, are created CBE. After winning gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, the javelin thrower Steve Backley is appointed OBE while the triple-jumper Ashia Hansen is created MBE.
For services to broadcasting, the Scottish rugby commentator Bill McLaren, who retired earlier this year, is appointed CBE. "The award is a huge honour – hopefully I will get some respect from the grandchildren now," he said. Henry Blofeld, a cricket writer for The Independent and one of the most enduring voices of BBC Radio 4's Test Match Special, is appointed OBE. Both men turned to media work after injury and medical problems.
The England rugby union prodigy Jonny Wilkinson, 23, becomes one of the youngest people from the sporting world to be created MBE. He has been billed as English rugby's David Beckham, is the world's premier fly-half and is likely to star at the 2003 rugby World Cup.
Sam Torrance, the Ryder Cup captain who plotted the Europe team's victory over the United States to produce one of the year's most glorious moments for British sport fans, is appointedOBE. Torrance won acclaim for his tactics on the final day of this year's competition at The Belfry.
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