New honour for Kevin Sinfield: home town Oldham pays tribute to Leeds Rhinos icon

The former Rhinos captain, who is now an assistant-coach with the England rugby union team, will be made an honorary freeman of the borough in his home town of Oldham.

The award is Oldham Council’s highest honour and Sinfield will be following in the footsteps of 27 others, including wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, suffragist Marjory Lees and Olympic gold medallists Nicola White and Matt Walls.

Sinfield, 42, will receive his title in front of local councillors and close relatives at an extraordinary council meeting next Monday, March 20.

Along with his former Rhinos teammate Rob Burrow, Sinfield was made an honorary freeman of the city of Leeds in January.

Sinfield, who began playing rugby at Oldham club Waterhead, starred for Rhinos from 1997-2015, captaining the team to seven Super League titles.

The third-highest points scorer in rugby league history, he has captured the hearts of the nation with his fundraising efforts since Burrow was diagnosed with the terminal illness motor neurone disease (MND) in December, 2019.

His incredible efforts so far - including seven marathons in seven days, running from Leicester to Leeds in 24 hours and seven ultra-marathons in a week - have raised millions of pounds for the fight against MND and raised awareness of the illness nationwide.