Woodward becomes Sir Clive

Tony Blair was so impressed by the “fantastic achievement” of England’s World Cup team that he made special arrangements to ensure that all their names were included in the British Honours list published today.

Even though the list was effectively complete by November 22 – the day England beat Australia in the final – Mr Blair was determined that they should be honoured as soon as possible.

The result was that their names were rushed into the system, with a knighthood for the coach, Clive Woodward, a CBE for captain Martin Johnson and an upgrade to OBE for the match-winning goal-kicker Jonny Wilkinson. The other members of the squad received MBEs.

And although the rugby victors take pride of place, well-known names from showbusiness, the arts and media are also there, including Eric Clapton, Joan Plowright, Roy Hudd, Chris Tarrant, Pete Postlethwaite, Nicholas Parsons, Stephen Daldry and Ray Davies, co-founder of The Kinks pop group.

Tim Henman also gets an OBE.

Documents leaked to the Sunday Times recently suggested that Henman’s name should be included to “add interest” to the list.