Club and CACT ambassador Steve Sutherland OBE expressed his pride after being awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) at Windsor Castle.
Sutherland was awarded an OBE for services to sport in June 2025 and received his medal at the investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, December 10th.
“It is hard to put into words,” Sutherland said when asked about his experience at Windsor.
“It was an amazing, humbling, and proud experience.”
Sutherland was awarded his OBE by HRH Prince William, who coincidentally, he had met 20 years prior, whilst working for Charlton.
“I was particularly pleased about the fact it was Prince William honouring me. We had hosted him at Charlton’s training ground, 20 years ago, and I thought, that possibly gives me something to talk about when the time comes!” he exclaimed.
“It was a nice full circle moment.”
Sutherland returned to The Valley in the summer of 2023 for his third spell in the club’s commercial team, having first joined as Commercial Manager in 1988. Following nine years with the Football League and a season at Swindon Town, he rejoined the club in 2000, first as CEO Peter Varney’s assistant and then as Commercial Director until 2009. Sutherland now acts as a club ambassador and is also a Charlton Athletic Community Trust ambassador.
“Ever since I stepped foot into the portacabin at Charlton Athletic at Selhurst Park in 1988, I have worked with so many special people, who have had an impact on my life and my career, you don’t just get something like an OBE on your own,” he said.
“I have been in the process of nominating someone before, it isn’t just down to one person, and you need to have six or seven supporting letters from people of substance, and I can’t get away from the fact that people have done that for me.
“I have got up and gone to work like I have for the last 40 years, you never think that something like an OBE would happen, it’s a special feeling.
“I was humble and proud to stand in front of Prince William, and to have my family there, particularly my wife Helen, after all the trials and tribulations over the years, was amazing.
“I was nervous, a different kind of nervous to what I have felt before standing in front of the future King, but it is something that I will treasure and remember forever.”
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