New Years Honours List

Top 10 'non-British born' sporting Brits

Fri Aug 05 02:55PM

Samoan-born Manu Tuilagi will make his first appearance for the England rugby team after being selected to start against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.

He is amazingly one of 15 players in England's 45-man World Cup training squad who were not born in the United Kingdom and the issue of 'plastic Brits' competing for England or Britain is becoming an increasingly divisive debate.

Also this week, American born 100 metres hurdler Tiffany Ofili-Porter had to come out and defend herself after being selected for the British team travelling to South Korea for the World Championship later this month.

However, many of Britain's greatest sports stars over the years were actually born outside of the country, and some of them didn't even have a British connection before moving to these shores.

Here are 10 of the best

John Barnes - Born in Jamaica

Barnes only came to England after finishing school in his native Jamaica and began his football career playing for non-league Sudbury Court. It was while playing for them that he was discovered by Watford and he became a legend there before becoming even more of a household name at Liverpool. By the time his career was over he had won 79 England caps.

Graeme Hick - Born in Zimbabwe

Hick was making quite a name for himself in his native Zimbabwe before he even first arrived in England and indeed he was included as a 16-year-old in Zimbabwe's World Cup squad in 1983. He first played county cricket in England in 1984, and with Zimbabwe not a Test playing nation at the time, he decided to declare for England despite the fact that in those days the residency rule meant you had to be in the country for seven years before qualifying (New Zealand offered to take him after four years, which is how long current England wannabes need to wait). He ended up playing 65 Test matches for his adopted country and 120 ODIs.

Luol Deng - Born in Sudan

The Chicago Bulls basketball star became one of the best paid British sportsmen in the world after he signed a six-year contract work $71m back in 2008. Deng was born in Sudan and moved to Egypt to escape the Sudanese Civil War before finally being granted political asylum to move to London as an eight-year old. There he quickly excelled at both football and basketball and was invited to play at underage level for England at both sports. However, he elected to move to the States when he was 14 to really properly start his basketball apprenticeship, but he remains a prod Brit. He was granted British citizenship in 2006 and is an ambassador for the London 2012 Games where he hopes to represent Great Britain in what he considers to be his home town.

Jimmy McIlroy MBE - A Special Day - Burnley FC - Clarets Mad

This afternoon I'll be witnessing something I never, ever thought I would, the awarding of an MBE, or to give it its full name 'Member of the Order of the British Empire'.

Somehow I can't see me ever receiving anything like this and neither do I suspect I'll ever get invited to the palace to see anyone else receive one, but today, in the unlikely surroundings of Burnley Football Club's Turf Moor I'll be witnessing just that as former Claret Jimmy McIlroy receives his from Lord Shuttleworth, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire.

Jimmy was awarded his MBE in the last New Year's Honours List and has opted for this unique ceremony rather than travelling to Buckingham Palace where he would have been limited on the number of guests he could take.

Today's ceremony means both his son and daughter can be present along with his grandchildren and, of course, his wider family who are the supporters of Burnley Football Club.

I'm not sure it is unique in football but I can't recall any other ground hosting such a ceremony and I'm certain the Burnley fans will be in the ground early to ensure they don't miss this wonderful occasion.

The ceremony, I'm told will take approximately eight minutes and the timetable is as follows:

2.45pm: Mr Jimmy McIlroy, Lord Shuttleworth, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, Mr Peter Robinson OBE, Deputy Lieutenant, and Burnley FC Chairman Mr Kilby make their way to centre circle.

Opening remarks by Lord Shuttleworth.

2.47: Citation for Mr James McIlroy MBE read by Mr Robinson.      

Lord Shuttleworth presents Award to Mr McIlroy and makes closing remarks.

2.50pm: Mr James McIlroy MBE to make short speech.

It's a special day for Jimmy and for our club and again, on behalf of everyone involved with Clarets Mad, I'd like to send him our sincere congratulations on this latest award.

The Geographical journal

The Aeroplane

The Electrical journal

New Scientist

Metallurgia, the international journal of metals and materials