UK Roundup

Arsenal, Liverpool managers to receive awards

LONDON (AP) -- Two French soccer managers -- Arsenal's Arsene Wenger and Liverpool's Gerard Houllier -- have both been honored by Queen Elizabeth II, the Foreign Office announced on Thursday.

Each man will receive honorary awards for their service to English soccer. They will receive the OBE, or Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

The presentations will be made July 9 at the Foreign Office by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Wenger, who has been Gunners manager since 1996, led Arsenal to league and FA Cup doubles in 1998 and 2002. Houllier guided Liverpool to five trophies in 2001.

"I am extremely proud and pleasantly surprised to be awarded with an honorary OBE," Wenger said.

"It is a great honor to be given this individual award, but as football is a team sport, I must give a great deal of credit and recognition to everyone that has helped me since I became manager of Arsenal in 1996.

"The working environment at Arsenal is fantastic and from the first day I came to the club, everyone has been fully supportive and given me a huge amount of encouragement," the Arsenal manager said.

"So I must thank my team around me who have helped us towards achieving our recent successes.

"I'm looking forward to receiving the award in July and also to achieving more great things with Arsenal Football Club."

Houllier, who has been in charge at Anfield since 1998, guided Liverpool to a domestic treble of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup in 2001, with further success in the European Super Cup and Charity Shield.

"To be given such an award is a great, great honor and to be recognized in this way at the same time as my good friend Arsene Wenger makes it even more special," he said.

"I am very proud to be considered worthy of such a prestigious award.

"This award is for Liverpool Football Club, the city of Liverpool and the fans who have always served as an inspiration to me," he said. "This honor must be shared with everyone associated with Liverpool Football Club, everyone who has Liverpool in their heart."

Forssell goes back to Chelsea

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Finland striker Mikael Forssell will return to English Premier League Chelsea from Borussia Moenchengladbach, the German first division club said on Thursday.

Moenchengladbach sports director Christian Hochstaetter said Forssell had told him he would definitely go back to Chelsea. Forssell, 22, came to Moenchengladbach during the winter break on loan from the London club and helped the five-times German champions escape relegation by scoring seven goals. His contract with Chelsea runs until 2005.

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.