King Kenny to Sir Kenny

A Merseyside MP was today launching his campaign to have a knighthood bestowed on Liverpool FC manager Kenny Dalglish.

Lifelong Reds fan Steve Rotheram MP, who represents Walton, was calling on his Parliamentary colleagues to sign an Early Day Motion which calls for the Anfield legend to be knighted.

It says: "Any award would be a fitting tribute to the Hillsborough families' unstinting campaign for justice for the 96."

Mr Rotheram, a Liverpool season ticket holder, only avoided being caught up in the 1989 disaster when he swapped his ticket for the Leppings Lane End 15 minutes before kick-off.

He told the ECHO: "The idea came out of a conversation I was having with Margaret Aspinall [chairwoman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group] about a way of recognising Kenny Dalglish.

"It is not only for his outstanding playing and managerial career, but also the charity work he has done with his wife, Marina, for breast cancer support and what he did after Hillsborough.

"It is common knowledge it affected him deeply at the time.

"Nowadays, you would receive counselling, but there he was going to four or five funerals a day and in a way, he was helping to counsel those bereaved families.

"I cannot guarantee this Early Day Motion will mean he gets a knighthood, but it is part of a process which can get the ball rolling and hopefully bring it to the attention of the people who make those decisions.

"I know for a fact there is one Tory and one Lib-Dem who have signed it. I am hoping it will get cross-party support and support from across the whole country.

"Don't forget, [Liverpool FC legends] Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly never got a knighthood whereas [Manchester United legends] Alex Ferguson, Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton all did.

"Liverpool fans have always felt slighted by that.

"It is a shame the Number 10 petitions website was shut down because if you put up a petition for Kenny Dalglish to be knighted, you would have hundreds of thousands of signatories in days."

Mrs Aspinall, whose son, James, 18, died at Hillsborough, said: "When Steve mentioned it to us, he asked how we would feel, and we said we would be delighted.

"In the early days, Kenny did an awful lot for the families.

"I have met Kenny a couple of times, not on group business, but I have spoken to him and he comes across as a real gentleman.

"Nothing is too much trouble for him."

Source: Liverpool Echo

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