Brits are petitioning to give ‘SIR’ Kevin Sinfield the knighthood he deserves

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Sir Kevin Sinfield knighthood rule change petition

An impassioned Brit, along with nearly 100,000 others, are championing a petition to give a Greater Manchester sporting role model a knighthood.

The UK is long overdue for a SIR Kevin Sinfield, if you ask us.

Yes, now five years after his first remarkable charity challenge in the form of his inaugural ‘seven in seven’ ultra-marathon, our very own Kevin Sinfield officially completed his sixth edition of the fundraising feat earlier this month.

Having now raised more than £1.2 million for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) in memory of his friend and former late, great, Leeds Rhinos teammate, Rob Burrow – and that just this year alone.

To take into account every penny he’s helped generate for the crucial neurological cause, he’s helped welcome in excess of £11 million since he started this tributary journey nearly six whole years ago.

Sinfield has become nothing short of a national hero over the last few years, and the people think it’s about time he is recognised with the highest honour.

The Oldham-born native has already been given a trio of notable awards, including an MBE, OBE and CBE, which also means he doesn’t technically qualify to be considered for a knighthood until 2027 at the very earliest.

However, the petition’s creator, Mel Handforth, believes that an exception should be made and the “arcane” rules around the New Year’s Honours should be changed to allow Sinfield (and, indeed, others) to be celebrated more promptly.

Even the Speaker for the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, is one of many to have argued for the stipulation to be scrapped.

Despite countless calls for him to be included in the most recent list, which saw the likes of David Beckham finally made a knight, he was overlooked due to the three-year gap protocol.

He also somehow missed out on being shortlisted for this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, though you can guarantee he would have plenty of votes from the general public – especially here in the region and, indeed, over in his adopted second home of Yorkshire.

You can see who did make it onto this year’s list down below.

The shortlist for the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards has been revealed
Who’s your ‘SPOTY’ this year?

Sinfield and Burrow were actually recognised at the Sports Personality of the Year Awards a few years ago, when both were given special commendation for their pioneering charitable work on behalf of motor neurone disease and assosciated charities.

The same happened again at the Pride of Britain a year later, and the retired rugby league player turned union coach was also handed an honorary degree by the University of Leeds in July 2024, just a month after Burrow sadly passed away.

But Sinfield has quite literally had the backing of millions to be made ‘Sir Kevin’ for well over half a decade now; we made him our ‘Manc of the Month’ back in November ’22, and our stance on him being given a knighthood is even clearer now than it was back then.

As Handforth writes in the bio of the Change.org petition: “The words ‘legend’ and ‘hero’ are often handed out, but Kevin Sinfield truly embodies them both. He’s not doing this for recognition – he’s doing it because he cares deeply about the MND community and honouring his friend Rob’s legacy.

“Let’s show Kevin that his nation stands with him. Sign this petition to urge the Honours Committee to recognise Sir Kevin Sinfield for his remarkable service to humanity.”

If you agree, you can sign the petition to make him Sir Kevin Sinfield right HERE.

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Featured Images — Gerard Barrau (Picsaweb)/Fleets (via Wikimedia Commons)

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