Friday 21 Dec 2018

Former Northern Ireland skipper enjoys ‘great wee day’ in London

Sara Booth has received her MBE from the Prince of Wales during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

The former Northern Ireland captain was awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List back in June - for services to women’s football.

At the ceremony in London yesterday Sara met world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua, who was presented with an OBE by Prince Charles.

She tweeted afterwards: “Imagine getting your MBE on the same day that Anthony Joshua gets his OBE. Great wee day.”

Sara was Tournament Director for the UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship which was staged in Northern Ireland in August 2017.

The tournament saw record attendances as well as large TV audiences and was regarded as successful both in how it was staged and also how it helped inspire a generation of young girls and boys in Northern Ireland to take up the game. 

Sara represented Northern Ireland for 15 years as a player. She won 32 caps in total for her country and spent four years as captain of the national side. Before delivering the UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship she worked as the Irish Football Association’s Women’s Domestic Football Manager for just over a decade. 

She left the Irish FA in January 2018 and is now Head of Women’s Football Competitions at world football’s governing body FIFA. 

Irish FA Chief Executive Patrick Nelson said: “Sara is passionate about seeing women given the same opportunities as men to play and enjoy our game and she is richly deserving of this award.”