"Now is the right time" to give former Sunderland star Beth Mead top civic award
Scarborough Borough Council is being urged to reconsider its decision
A Scarborough Borough Councillor says there is no better example of young person who has gone and grasped life than former Sunderland player Beth Mead.
It is as there are renewed calls for the authority to reconsider the decision after previously saying "it wasn't the right time" back in August.
The Lionness has recently been given an MBE, was named Sports Personality of the Year and won the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament at the Euros last summer.
Councillor Heather Phillips said: "It's the highest civic honour that we can give as a borough. It's not awarded very often and we haven't awarded it for sometime. It shows the appreciation of the whole borough towards the contribution made by the person who's nominated.
"Beth has set an example as a local resident who's maybe battled against the stereotype of women in football and succeeded at the highest level that you could possibly get to. She's an example to female sports participants and residents in the north of our borough. She cannot be more highest praised.
"I think it's time that our borough said thank you to Beth for her contribution and maybe say thank you to her parents who supported her all along this journey. Unfortunately her mother has just passed but you cannot be the women she's become without the support of your family.
"We await the next meeting of the Governance group where we will be nominating Beth. We've tried to do this previously but it wasn't deemed to be the right time for Beth, but now is the right time. We need to reward her as a borough.
"We can't have a better example of a young person who's gone out from our borough and grasped life. I think we need to address the fact that we're quite happy to reward our favourite male footballers but remember there's a whole 52 percent of the population that are women and we need to show that we appreciate their efforts as well."