Lou Macari reveals Royal secrecy oath after receiving MBE for homeless charity work

Lou Macari, the former Manchester United and Scotland midfielder, has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to football and his work tackling homelessness in Stoke-on-Trent — and has revealed he was legally bound to keep the news secret for weeks before it was made public.

Macari, who scored 97 goals in 404 appearances across a 12-year spell at Old Trafford, was notified of the honour well in advance of last Friday’s official announcement but was instructed not to breathe a word. “I got a letter and the first two paragraphs said, ‘Keep this a secret, don’t let anyone know until a certain date’. I didn’t tell anybody,” he told BBC Breakfast. The timing made for an awkward few weeks: “I have been walking past people and they’re saying, ‘You deserve a medal, you do’ — and I couldn’t say anything!”

Recipients of an MBE are typically notified four to six weeks before the honours list is published, with a strict embargo covering colleagues, friends, and extended family.

The Edinburgh-born Macari settled in Stoke after managing Stoke City during two separate spells in the 1990s. It was there that he became increasingly troubled by the number of people sleeping rough. In 2016 he founded the Macari Foundation, a charity providing accommodation and support services to homeless people in the local community.

“It all started when I saw six homeless people in a doorway in Stoke on a cold winter’s night and went over to speak to them,” he told the Press Association. “I told them I would try to help them, I went to the council, got the keys to a property they had repossessed and quite simply that was the start of it all.”

Macari added that he hopes the public recognition will bring greater attention to the issue. “Hopefully this honour will help increase awareness because although we are still trying and having some success, none of us have found a way to get rid of this problem.”

As a player, Macari joined United in 1973 for £200,000 after emerging at Celtic as part of the celebrated Quality Street Gang alongside Kenny Dalglish and Danny McGrain. He represented Scotland at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and, after retiring, went on to manage Celtic, Swindon Town, West Ham, Birmingham City, and Huddersfield Town before dedicating himself to charitable work.