No. 100 – Our Gerrard meets the Queen

On the 21st of March 2007, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was awarded his MBE by the Queen at Buckingham Palace and became a Member of the British Empire. Gerrard was honoured for spear-heading Liverpool’s fightback in the sensational 2005 Champions League final, when they came back from 3-0 down against AC Milan to eventually win on penalties.

After being announced that Gerrard would be awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list, Rafa Benitez spoke of his delight for Gerrard: “Everyone must be very proud of him, but I would also say this is an award for the club, the supporters, his team-mates and his coaches. “In football you can never recognise just one player. Steven has been at this club for years and has worked with many coaches at the Academy and Melwood and all through that time he has had the supporters behind him. You cannot play at your level all the time if you don’t have people backing you.”

Recognition of the highest order!