Alan Brazil: Kenny Dalglish more than deserves a knighthood

Kenny Dalglish and wife Marina (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

KENNY DALGLISH will always be the King to Liverpool and Scotland fans.

But it’s high time the Queen recognised our greatest-ever footballer by handing him an overdue knighthood.

Sir Kenny may not roll off the tongue as easily as King Kenny does.

But the time for lip service is over – he deserves to be officially recognised.

There are his footballing achievements, of course. They are one thing.

You could make a case for him purely on what he did as a player and a manager.

The guy won 24 major trophies in his playing days with Celtic and Liverpool, and another nine after stepping into the dugout.

Kenny and I kicked off Scotland’s 1982 World Cup campaign against New Zealand.

In all our games together at international level, I found him a fantastic teammate.

People seem to think he’s quiet – even a wee bit grumpy or miserable.

On the contrary. He’s the life and soul when he’s amongst his own. You can’t shut him up!

With 102 Scotland caps in his trophy cabinet, the word “legend” barely does him justice.

But everything he did in the aftermath of the Hillsborough Disaster – and everything he continues to do in support of the families in their fight for justice – lifts him to a level of status beyond that of a mere footballing genius.

He’s a true humanitarian, a guy who attended many funerals personally, ensured the club was represented at all 96, and has devoted himself to charity work over many, many decades.

Of the 10 players and managers who have already been knighted, it would be wrong to suggest any of them didn’t deserve it.

Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst and Trevor Brooking were all great servants of the game, while Alf Ramsey, Walter Winterbottom, Bobby Robson, Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson all, in their own way, tried to reinvent it.

But Kenny has done just as much over the years – both on and off the pitch – to warrant inclusion.

Who could possibly argue that Dalglish doesn’t deserve to stand shoulder to shoulder with those guys?

Show me somebody who’s willing to do so, and I’ll show you a wind-up merchant.

Kenny devoted his life to football – to Celtic, to Liverpool and to both clubs’ cities.

He isn’t just a football player or a football manager. He’s already a part of football folklore.

They don’t call him King Kenny around Anfield way for nothing. They didn’t worship him on the slopes of Hampden because he was ordinary.

The guy was a hero – an absolute, true-life hero.

The people of Liverpool know it, the Hillsborough families know it, and the people of Glasgow know it.

If that doesn’t qualify him for a knighthood, I don’t know what does.

So, with the greatest respect to Her Majesty – or whoever advises her on these things – it’s time for public adulation to be translated into official recognition.

Kenny Dalglish – from King to Sir. The campaign starts now!

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