Three footballing champions set to receive their Freedom of Sunderland
Jill Scott, Steph Houghton and Gary Bennett will be honoured next week
Last updated 1st Mar 2023
Three footballing champions are set to receive their Freedom of Sunderland.
Former Sunderland AFC Ladies and England women’s team national players Jill Scott and Steph Houghton will be honoured alongside former Sunderland AFC star Gary Bennett.
Freedoms are traditionally given by Sunderland City Council to citizens who make ‘significant contributions to the wellbeing and community spirit of Sunderland’.
Jill was a member of the Euro 2022 ‘Lionesses’ squad that delighted the nation last summer and Steph who captained the squad in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup has won more than 100 caps.
Gary played more than 350 games for Sunderland AFC between 1984 and 1995 and is fifth in the club’s all-time appearance league. He went onto become a stalwart of the Show Racism the Red Card campaign and received an MBE last year for his services to tackling racism in football.
The ceremony will be held at City Hall in Sunderland on Wednesday 8th March.
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