Cliff Jones, 91, Receives MBE for Services to Welsh Football

Cliff Jones, 91, was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to Welsh football in the King's Birthday Honours list published on 12 June 2026. Jones scored 16 goals in 59 internationals for Wales and played in the squad that reached the quarter-finals of the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. Wales were eliminated from that tournament by Brazil.

Jones also formed part of the Tottenham Hotspur team that completed the Football League and FA Cup double in 1961. Two years later he helped Spurs defeat Atlético Madrid 5-1 in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, making Tottenham the first British club to win a European trophy. Jones contributed to Tottenham's further FA Cup victories in 1962 and 1967.

Jones played for Tottenham between 1958 and 1968 after joining from Swansea for a £35,000 fee. He scored 159 goals in 378 appearances for the club across all competitions and is regarded as one of its greatest players. His 18-year club career, which ran from 1952 to 1970, encompassed 580 matches and included 54 goals in 193 appearances for Swansea.

Jones transferred from Tottenham to Fulham in 1968. Jones' father Ivor and uncle Bryn both represented Wales. In 1938 Bryn moved from Wolves to Arsenal for £14,500, a world-record fee at the time. Jones was inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and received a lifetime achievement award at the Sport Wales awards later that year.

Former Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis, who served from 2006 to 2015, was also made an MBE for voluntary work with service personnel and veterans as chair of the Churchill Lines Foundation. Tom Hooper, head of sport at Bristol Metropolitan and originally from Newport, received an MBE for services to education.

Cardiff City director Steve Borley was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for contributions to the Welsh economy in engineering, construction and sports participation.