Croydon Roy’s Freedom of the Borough nod

Croydon’s own Roy Hodgson has been nominated for a Freedom of the Borough award by council leader Tony Newman this week.

The Crystal Palace manager, who has been successful in keeping the club in the Premier League this season, has been recommended for the honour in recognition of his contribution to Croydon and to football, both home and abroad.

The club, which was a ‘ten-minute walk’ from his boyhood home, has played a large part in his life with stints as a youth player, as well as manager. As a boy, he was a Palace fan who attended John Ruskin Grammar School, where he was a player in the school football team.

The former England manager joined the Eagles in September last year, turning their season around from potential relegation to 44 points and 11th position in the table, truly cementing him in the hearts and affection of the fans.

Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the council

“I’m delighted to be recommending Roy for Freedom of the Borough – he represents all that is great about Croydon. Born and raised here, he’s had a remarkable international career in football and, to cap it all, he’s now the manager and saviour of Crystal Palace. He’ll go down in history for his remarkable feat in keeping the team in the Premier League this year. But I’m sure he plans to top that achievement for Palace next season.”

 

Roy Hodgson said: “It would be a great honour to be awarded the Freedom of the Borough and I would like to thank Councillor Newman and his colleagues for nominating me. I could never have dreamt that my journey in life would take me from walking to Selhurst Park with my father and sitting on the cross-bar at the Holmesdale Road end to managing the club I have always supported and to being recognised by Croydon Council for my career in football. It is very much an honour I would wish to dedicate to my parents.”

2018-05-16T15:03:24+01:00 May 16th, 2018|Recent news|