Tottenham striker and England captain Harry Kane will be awarded the Freedom of the City of London as a recognition honoring his ‘outstanding sporting achievements’, it has been announced.
Loans notwithstanding, the 29-year-old has spent his entire professional career at Tottenham and will receive the award at a ceremony in January when he’s back from the World Cup in Qatar.
The ‘Freedom’ is one of the City of London’s ancient traditions and is believed to have begun in 1237, enabling recipients to carry out their trade.
Kane was nominated for the award by the City of London Corporation’s policy chairman Chris Hayward and deputy policy chairman Keith Bottomley, with the award furthermore agreed to by the City Corporation’s elected Court of Common Council.
Kane enthused: “I am extremely proud and grateful to be awarded the Freedom of the City of London award. This is a proud moment for myself and my family.
“It is a real honor to be recognised by the city I grew up in and love, and I am looking forward to meeting those who nominated me at the award ceremony.”
Mr Hayward said: “We are delighted that Harry will be awarded the Freedom of the City. It is richly deserved.
“Harry is a superstar for so many football fans. He has made a massive contribution to sport and London.”
Kane has been capped 75 times for England and scored 51 goals, and is rapidly narrowing the gap on Wayne Rooney’s all-time record of 53. He was the top goalscorer at the 2018 World Cup to win the Golden Boot.
Despite not having won any major trophies so far, Kane is the third-highest goalscorer in Premier League history with 193 goals and boasts three top flight Golden Boots awards
The announcement comes the day after Jurgen Klopp was awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool with the Reds manager vowing after that to defend the city ‘forever’ as he was honored in a ceremony held in the city’s Town Hall on Wednesday evening.
The German tactician did however admit he was left confused by one of the laws of the historic award, which gives the holder the right to drive sheep through the city streets.