Lou Macari has been made an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours for services to association football and to homeless people, bringing formal recognition to a life that has moved from the pitch to the street-facing work of his charity. The 77-year-old former Celtic and Manchester United player is being honoured now because the annual list has been released, and his name is on it.

For readers looking up Lou Macari today, the honour sits across two very different chapters of his life. He began at Celtic after being spotted playing for his school team at 17, went on to make more than 400 appearances for Manchester United and won 24 Scotland caps, including at the 1978 World Cup. He later managed clubs including Celtic and Stoke City for almost 20 years, which is part of the football career the honour recognises.

His work away from the game has become just as central to his public profile. In 2016, Macari set up The Macari Foundation in Stoke-on-Trent to help homeless people, turning a football name into one linked with one of the city's most visible charities. That mix of football service and hands-on local help is what gives this MBE its weight.

The reaction around the honours list also carried an edge of humility. George Bowie, who received an MBE for services to radio and charity, said the honour was amazing, while adding that he thought others were more deserving. Bowie, whose At Breakfast show will mark 30 years live next April, has also helped social groups secure more than £1m in grants, making his own recognition part of the same broad sweep of public service.

Macari's award underlines how the honours system has judged his contribution: not only as a Scottish football figure from the era of Celtic's Quality Street Gang, but as the founder of a charity that has kept homelessness in view in Stoke-on-Trent since 2016. No further announcement is expected around the honour itself, but the MBE now fixes his football legacy and charity work in the same line of recognition.