Sports industry professionals feature on New Year's Honours list

A number of athletes and sports industry professionals are among the people to have been recognised for their work in the latest New Year's Honours list.

Among those honoured were England Women’s rugby players Sarah Hunter and Rochelle Clark, who were both awarded MBE after helping the team secure its first World Cup title in 20 years.

Sporting Equals chair, Brendon Batson, was awarded an OBE for services to football, while April Barrett, former English Federation of Disability Sport board member and trustee of Dwarf Sport UK, received an MBE for her services to disability sport.

Also honoured were former world champion and Olympic silver medallist, Steve Cram – given a CBE for his recent work as chairman of the English Institute of Sport – and Kate Richardson-Walsh, the captain of the England and Great Britain women’s hockey teams, who received an MBE for services to hockey.

Other sports people to make it on the list include:

• David Collier, former England Cricket Board chief executive – OBE for services to cricket.

• Peter Alan Smith, Leeds City Council, project coordinator for Tour de France – MBE for services to sports development in Leeds and the Tour de France Grand Départ• Rebecca Donnelly, CEO of Fight 4 Change Foundation, MBE for services to community sport

To see the New Year’s Honours list 2015 in full, click here.