Downing Street has hinted that Harry Kane deserves a knighthood, praising the footballer’s “extraordinary achievement” as the first English winner of the Ballon d’Or in 25 years. The prime minister’s spokesperson said Andy Burnham sent praise and congratulations to the England captain, who was announced as the men’s winner of football’s most prestigious individual award at a ceremony on Monday night. Number 10 said it hoped it would be the prelude to a trophy to celebrate with England “before too long” – alluding to hopes of an England win when the country co-hosts the European Championship in 2028 with Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
The Bayern Munich player is the first Englishman to win the award since Michael Owen in 2001. And, hopefully, there’s another trophy to celebrate with England before too long.” Asked whether Burnham would like to see Kane receive a knighthood, she said: “I think everyone would agree, Harry Kane has given an enormous amount to English football, and this is a very special moment for him and the country, but, as ever, I’m not going to pre-empt the honours process.” Kane received the award at a ceremony at the London Palladium on Monday night, beating Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal. He is the fifth English player to win the award, the list also including Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Charlton.
Burnham cannot decide whether to hand Kane a knighthood, but ministers and departments can make recommendations to the honours committee, as can private individuals. The sport committee includes the presenter Sue Barker and the chief executive of the Football Foundation, Robert Sullivan. Kane holds an MBE, awarded after England’s success in reaching the semi-finals in the 2018 World Cup.
Players are often not awarded knighthoods until after retirement. The former England captain Sir David Beckham received his knighthood last year, as did the former England player and manager Sir Gareth Southgate. Before those awards, the most recent was the former Scottish player and Liverpool manager Sir Kenny Dalglish.
Owen, also a former Liverpool player, has not received a knighthood, and nor did Keegan, the former Newcastle player and manager who was also England’s captain and manager.
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