Apart from Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard, which other footballer has been honoured by the Queen this season?
The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is Hartlepool United’s 29-year-old midfielder Ritchie Humphreys. Humphreys was among a group recognised for making a “significant contribution to local and national life”. In the case of Humphreys his contribution came in the shape of a remarkable run of 232 consecutive league appearances for Hartlepool. “The letter came to the club at first and I thought it was a wind-up by one of the boys,” he told BBC Sport. “I checked it out long and hard and I thought if it was they had gone to a lot of trouble. “So I rang the number and it was the Master of the Household at Buckingham Palace.” Along with the likes of boxer Joe Calzaghe, Channel swimming comedian David Walliams and deserving members of the general public, Humphreys attended the Palace with his mother, sister and girlfriend Amanda. Just to be invited there was amazing. I was representing the club, the area and the town and I was very proud Ritchie Humphreys “The Duke of Edinburgh said to me ‘you’re
