Arise Sir Kenny: Liverpool legend Dalglish receives knighthood

Kenny Dalglish's remarkable life and career has been given the ultimate recognition after he received a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

The 67-year-old, who was already an MBE, has been bestowed with the distinction for his services to football, charity and the City of Liverpool. He received written notification from Buckingham Palace and admitted to being 'immensely proud and hugely humbled'.

Dalglish won 29 major trophies as player with Celtic and Liverpool, who paid a then British transfer fee of £440,000 to sign him in 1977.

He then won every domestic prize in two spells as a manager at Anfield, as well as leading Blackburn Rovers to the Premier League title in 1994-95.

It was the work he undertook and the support he offered following the Hillsborough Disaster in April 1989 that sets him apart in Liverpool's pantheon; he is also the co-founder of The Marina Dalglish Appeal, his family's cancer charity, which has raised more than £10million since its inception in 2005.

'When I was a young boy in Glasgow I wouldn't have had the words to give this due testimony,' said Dalglish.

'We are hugely proud to have got this and for the people who have worked so hard to get here. You start off in your life just hoping to be a footballer.

'You become a footballer and have a bit of success in the football world and that seems to give you a platform to go on to other things. We only set out to do the best we possibly could, even through all the other stuff. The charity or Hillsborough; it was to help people because somebody helped us.

'Your parents put you on the right road. Marina and I are fortunate we got good direction from them. Then the football; you couldn't get better tutors than Jock Stein and Bob Paisley. During that time both clubs were the most successful in Britain so it didn't take much for us to win something.

'People might say they didn't get a recognition like this. I wouldn't get into a discussion about that. I'm not saying I'm any more deserving than those two great men.

'Someone has thought it was fitting for me to get it and that's all we can deal with. We are hugely proud to have got this accolade.'

The new title, he says, is not something with he feels comfortable – 'No one will call me it anyway,' he said with a telling smile – and it has clearly not made any difference at home, as Dalglish revealed his second daughter, Lynsey, started laughing when he told her.

'I opened (the letter) and I saw a wee bit of the crown. I thought it was the taxman!' Dalglish added. 'I thought 'We better have a look at this'. As I went to open it, the doorbell went so I said to Marina "here" and she went "Oh!" That was it!'

It is Dalglish's way to play things down and be self-effacing but, in a serious moment, it was impossible not to see how much being admitted to the realm meant. He is the first former footballer to be knighted since Trevor Brooking in 2004.

'I wouldn't have been anywhere near it if people didn't put my name forward,' said Dalglish. Somebody must have thought it was worthwhile and they must have put a lot of work into it.

'For that you're grateful. We have been hugely gratified to receive help and support.'