David Moyes has spoken of his pride after continuing a family tradition upon receiving an OBE for services to football, while revealing he learned he had been awarded the honour at his grandson’s nativity.
The Everton boss accepted the award from Prince William during a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
Moyes is a three-time LMA Manager of the Year winner, with a total of 716 Premier League matches as a manager, which is only exceeded by Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Scot, who led West Ham to the Europa Conference League in 2023 – their first major trophy in 43 years, returned for the second spell in charge of the Toffees in January, having previously spent 11 years in charge of the club between 2022 and 2013.
Moyes, who was named in the New Year’s honour’s list earlier this year, revealed that he learned of the prize while at his grandson’s nativity as he had not been checking the post because his mother-in-law was in poor health.
‘I was actually at my grandson’s nativity and I’d got a call from the Home Office,’ he told PA.
David Moyes has spoken of his pride after continuing a family tradition upon receiving an OBE for services to football
The Everton boss revealed that Wednesday’s ceremony was his first meeting with the Prince of Wales
Moyes led West Ham to the Conference League in 2023 – their first major trophy in 43 years
‘My mother-in-law wasn’t well, she was dying at the time, and we hadn’t opened up the mail for a wee while – you know, we’d been concentrating on my mother-in-law.
‘I had to say to my wife, “can you check and see if I’ve had a message here?”
‘I didn’t believe them. I can sometimes get quite a lot of phone calls which you don’t always believe. I went back, we checked, and I’ve got to say it was a big moment for both me and my wife. It was emotional.’
This season, Moyes earned 31 points from his 20 games for Everton, with only Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea tallying more since the Scot’s first victory following his appointment.
Moyes was accompanied at the ceremony by his wife Pam, son David and daughter Lauren.
He told Everton’s website: ‘It was a great honour to be given an OBE today. It was a really special day for me and my family.
‘My dad was previously awarded an MBE, and now I’ve got an OBE too, so it’s something we are all really proud of as a family.
‘It was also incredibly humbling to see some of the other people getting awards for what they do in life – from charity work to doctors leading the fight against cancer, or folk tackling drug addiction. I felt really privileged to be alongside them to receive an award, too.’
The Scot returned to Everton in January, having previously managed the club for 11 year between 2022 and 2013
The 62-year-old also revealed that Wednesday’s ceremony was the first chance he had to meet the Prince of Wales, an avid football fan, who was seen at several matches during Aston Villa’s Champions League campaign.
‘I also talked to him about Aston Villa and how well they have done over the last couple of years, and how much he is enjoying seeing his team doing well,’ added Moyes.
‘He’s certainly mad keen on his football and so is his son, so it made it extra special to receive the award from him.’
