Jurgen Klopp to be awarded the Freedom of Liverpool
Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp is to be awarded the Freedom of Liverpool.
The proposal to bestow the city’s highest civic honour will be considered at an extraordinary meeting of Liverpool City Council on Wednesday, 20 July if approved, a ceremony will be held at a future date.
The German manager has described the news as a 'wow moment'.
Klopp was appointed as manager in 2015 and has led the club to great success.
In 2019, Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League. They were finalists in 2018 and 2022.
In 2020, Liverpool won the Premier League for the first time.
In 2022, the club won both the FA Cup and the EFL cup.
Jurgen Klopp said: “I have to be honest, when I first heard this news I had to take a minute to take it in. As you can imagine, I get a lot of different types of news in my job but this was definitely a ‘Wow’ moment.
“The main reason for this was what Liverpool, the city and its wonderful people, mean to me and my family. The welcome that we have been given has been unbelievable from the word go, so to get this kind of recognition is incredible. It is also very humbling.
“Obviously, I am not from Liverpool so there will be countless people who know more about the history than I do but I actually already knew a little bit about this award.
This was because earlier this year it was granted to Andrew Devine, someone who we all had an enormous amount of love for, along with the other 96 victims of Hillsborough.
“I also know that Sir Kenny Dalglish has received the Freedom of the City previously so if my name is listed alongside those and all of the other recipients that makes the honour even more special.
“So to everyone who made this possible - thank you. You have made my family and myself so, so proud to know that the bond we have with this wonderful city has been made even stronger and will now stay for ever.”
Liverpool actress Sue Johnston has also been nominated for the Freedom of Liverpool.
She was born in Warrington and grew up in Prescot, getting her first taste of acting at a drama group at Pilkington Glass where she was also working.
She attended Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and her first professional job was on stage at the Theatre Royal in St Helens.
Working mainly in the theatre in the 1970s, Sue’s first television appearance was on the cobbles of Coronation Street in 1982.
She went on to become one of the most recognisable faces on British TV, most notably as Sheila Grant in Brookside and reunited with her Brookside husband Ricky Tomlinson in The Royle Family.
Sue was appointed OBE in 2009 and has been nominated for Freedom of the City by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram.