Football great Graeme Souness made CBE for charity work

After the ceremony he told the PA news agency that he was trying to “be a decent human being.”

He said: “I think when you go to work, whatever job you do, you become quite a different person to what you really are, certainly in the demands of football management and being a football player.

“I am an emotional man, and when I get involved in this charity and when I’m around these poor children, I am emotional.

“Now that I’ve been involved for six years, I get it now – I understand the plight of these children, and it’s just pushing me to do more and more for them if I can.”

The 71-year-old added that he considered his fundraising achievements to be “up there with European Cups”, referring to the trophy he won three times with Liverpool.

He said that with football he had “ticked that box” and was now focused on another Debra fundraising event in May 2025, where he will aim to swim the English Channel again before riding a bike from Dover to Westminster.

Souness – who also worked as a TV pundit in the sport for years – said he joked with the Prince of Wales about Liverpool defeating Aston Villa, who the Prince supports, at the weekend.