Sol Campbell has been applauded by Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and other footballing icons for criticising the New Year's Honours list.
Campbell, 48, was once again overlooked for an honour - despite his trailblazing career. The two-time Premier League winner was the first black player to score for England in a World Cup and has also been involved in many charitable projects in recent years.
Campbell, who played for the likes of Tottenham and England, has said he will "challenge anyone who says I don't deserve" to be honoured. The New Year's Honours list has been criticised after just four Lionesses and manager Sarina Wiegman were included.
"I’ve seen a lot of people get MBEs, OBEs [and] Sir's for services to sport [and] I will put my name down reasons why [I should've been included]," wrote Campbell on Instagram.
"First, the 56 [Premier League] games without losing is an [individual] record. Two, invincible Arsenal team 49 games without losing [is] a record. Three, first black player to score in World Cup for England. Four, first black captain to lift a cup at Wembley.
"Five, first black English speaking player to score in a Champions League final. Six, I played two decades and over 500 games in the Premier League.
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"Seven, [I] stood up for racism in football here and abroad. Eight, [I'm the] only English player to play in six consecutive tournaments for England. Nine, [I] got into the World Cup best team [in both] 1998 and 2002 and one European team [in] 2004, so at one stage I was pound-for-pound the best defender in the world - how many Englishmen can say that?
"[I] had a charity called 'Kids Goes Live' which took school children from under privilege backgrounds to watch live sporting events! I challenge anyone who says I don’t deserve it? It will be silent out there!"
Campbell's opinion was supported by the likes of Andy Cole, Mikael Silvestre and Sylvain Distin. His former England team-mates Ferdinand and Terry also backed him up, as the latter replied: "You get my vote, Sol."
Campbell's criticism comes after Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead, Ellen White (all MBEs) and Leah Williamson (OBE) were the only four members of England's triumphant women's Euro 2022 squad to be honoured in the New Year's list. Manager Wiegman was made a CBE.
In comparison, all 31 members of England's men's Rugby Union World Cup-winning squad in 2003 were honoured. Head coach Clive Woodward received a knighthood, while captain Martin Johnson was made a CBE. Furthermore, all 12 England players involved in the 2005 men's Ashes series were honoured in that New Year's list.
Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell tweeted: "Congrats to those Lionesses who have been given honours, but to not recognise the entire team is not only against expectations but out of sync with previous sporting victories and another example of the lack of respect and profile given to the women's game."
