Football legend Macari and DJ Bowie among Scots honoured by King

Scottish football legend Lou Macari and radio presenter George Bowie are among those recognised in the King's Birthday Honours. Macari has been made an MBE for services to association football and to homeless people, while Clyde 1 DJ Bowie has received the same honour for services to radio and charity.

Football career and charity work

Macari, who played for Scotland at the 1978 World Cup, began his career at Celtic before making more than 400 appearances for Manchester United. The midfielder was just 17 years old when he joined Celtic after being spotted while playing for his school team. He quickly became part of the late 1960s reserve side, known as the Quality Street Gang, that also included Kenny Dalglish and Danny McGrain. The now 77-year-old won 24 Scotland caps and later managed clubs including Celtic and Stoke City for almost 20 years. In 2016 he set up a homeless charity, The Macari Foundation, in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent.

Radio personality and community work

Bowie, from Greenock, is known for popularising the Eurodance track Bits and Pieces, which became beloved by Scotland football fans as a Hampden goal-scoring song. His show Bowie At Breakfast has long been a fixture on Clyde 1, and next April will mark 30 years of the DJ presenting the show live. The 58-year-old, who is also a dance music DJ, has long attended charity events across Scotland without accepting any fee and has helped social groups secure more than £1m in grants. Reflecting on the MBE, he said his 88-year-old mother Betty was overjoyed to hear of his nomination. Bowie added: "I can't describe what this means to her." He described the honour as "amazing" even if others were more deserving and said: "I'm delighted to receive it."

Other notable honours

Damehood for forensic anthropologist

Also on the list is Prof Lucina Hackman, from the University of Dundee, who said she was "honoured" to have been given a damehood for services to forensic anthropology. She heads the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification in Dundee where her work has changed the way that mass fatality events in the UK are investigated. Dame Lucina has worked at the university since 2006. She designed, implemented and evaluated training programmes in both forensic anthropology and disaster victim identification (DVI), when no such professional approach existed. This led to her becoming a "go to" adviser for Interpol and other global investigative authorities. Dame Lucina has given evidence in court in relation to trauma analysis, identification, and age estimation. One of her areas of expertise is helping to identify the age of asylum seekers and refugees. "My line of work revolves around what are often very difficult and traumatic circumstances, but delivers something which is vital to society," she said. "To have that honoured in this way is deeply rewarding."

Knighthood for medical scientist

Numerous Scottish academics have been honoured, including Prof Andrew Morris from the University of Edinburgh, who has been given a knighthood in recognition of his services to medical sciences and public health. He is vice-principal of data science and currently leads Health Data Research UK, a biomedical research institute. The academic was previously dean of medicine at the University of Dundee and advised the Scottish government as chief scientist within the health directorate.

MBEs for community service

People working for charities and the voluntary sector have been recognised as well, including James Coles, team leader of Moffat Mountain Rescue Team, who has been made an MBE for services to mountain rescue. Gordon Deans, chairman of Orkney2025, has been given the same honour for services to sport and island communities.

OBE for rugby commentator

Former Scotland rugby international Ian Robertson has been made an OBE for services to rugby union and broadcasting. The former Scotland fly half played in three Calcutta Cup matches and became the BBC's official rugby union correspondent in 1983. He retired from commentating in 2018.