Veteran sports broadcaster receives MBE

A veteran sports broadcaster has been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace.

Jeff Stelling was recognised for his services to sport, broadcasting and charity by the Princess Royal on Wednesday.

Mr Stelling, who is from Hartlepool, said receiving the honour was "amazing, unexpected, thrilling and, on the day, nerve-racking".

"It's something I never really dreamt about and [I've] still got to pinch myself, to be honest," he said.

Mr Stelling previously told BBC Radio Tees how he almost missed accepting his MBE.

"I was getting calls from an unknown number and I tend not to take too many of those," he said.

"It wasn't until my wife rang me and said 'the cabinet office have been trying to get hold of you about accepting the MBE and said this is the final day you have to accept it'.

"My offer of the MBE had gone missing somewhere on the line and it was only by the fact that my wife picked up the phone that I found out I was actually being awarded with something."

Mr Stelling, who fronted Sky's Soccer Saturday programme for 25 years before stepping down last year, said he "could have never dreamt of" his decades-long career when he was a young boy growing up on a council estate.

"I remember growing up on a council estate in Hartlepool and, you know, your main aspiration was actually to get a job to earn a living, because unemployment was so rife," he said.

"You wouldn't dream of anything like this - it is, literally, a cliche, beyond your wildest dreams."

The 69-year-old broadcaster is also an ambassador to Prostate Cancer UK - for which he has helped raise more than £1.7m.

Mr Stelling said it "wasn't what he anticipated" when he first got involved.

"I'm sort of humbled, because so many people have helped me and walked with me, and contributed, and raised funds," he said.

"It's been brilliant, it's worked more effectively than I could ever, ever have imagined."

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