Chris Kamara: Football star meets Lord Mayor to mark MBE award

Former Bradford City player Chris Kamara has met the city's Lord Mayor to mark his becoming an MBE.

He was given the honour by King Charles III for services to football, anti-racism and charity.

Mr Kamara recently revealed he has apraxia of speech, which sometimes causes difficulty in speaking.

Cllr Martin Love also met Shadim Hussain who received an MBE for foster caring and Marjorie Black, who was awarded a BEM for services to policing.

Mr Kamara said he was due to be invested with his award at Windsor Castle next week.

"I'm not sure I 100% deserve it, but they're giving it me," he joked.

"As far as racism is concerned I've grown up with it so I'm one of the best people to talk about it."

The former midfielder has been involved in raising more than £3m for various charities over the years, including Show Racism the Red Card.

In his recent BBC podcast, he talked about his diagnosis with apraxia, which according to the NHS affects speech as "muscles cannot carry out the instructions given by the brain".

Mr Kamara said that he did not know from one day to the next how his speech would be.

"So when I actually talk to someone, rather than talking to myself in the mirror, then I find out the pace of it," he said.

"Whether the words are coming out properly."

He signed for the Bantams in 1994 and as player-manager led them to promotion to the First Division in 1996 after winning the Wembley play-off final.

After retiring from the game he had a successful career as a football reporter for Sky TV.

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