It’s been a long time coming but Kevin Sinfield has finally been knighted in the King’s Birthday Honours list published in June 2026. His knighthood is in recognition of his outstanding rugby league career and, more recently, his fundraising for Motor Neurone Disease (MND). In this article, we will look at Sinfield’s rugby legacy and also consider his impact on the MND community and his remarkable dedication to extreme fundraising challenges and finding a cure for this awful disease.
Who Is Kevin Sinfield?
Kevin Sinfield was born in Oldham on 12th September 1980 and made his debut for the Leeds Rhinos rugby league team back in 1997 at the tender age of 16. He went on to captain the club through what is widely recognised to be their golden era, during which he made 521 appearances and led the team to seven Super League championships, three World Club Challenges and two Challenge Cup victories.
International recognition followed, and Sinfield won 14 caps for Great Britain and 26 caps playing for England, where he also captained the side. He was also the first rugby league player to be nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2015, coming a close second to tennis great Sir Andy Murray, who had led Great Britain to its first victory in the Davis Cup in 79 years.
Fundraising for MND
Recognised as an outstanding leader, it was during his time playing for Leeds Rhinos that Sinfield first met Rob Burrow and the two became teammates and close friends. Rob Burrow spent his entire professional career playing for Leeds Rhinos and made almost 500 appearances, as well as representing Great Britain and England alongside Sinfield. He retired from rugby in 2017 and was given the devastating diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in December 2019.
MND is a life-shortening neurological condition that damages the nerves sending messages from the brain to the muscles and has no known cure. By then, Sinfield had also retired from playing and was the director of rugby at Leeds Rhinos and called his friend’s diagnosis “devastating and heart-breaking”.
Seven Marathons in Seven Days
Determined to do everything he could to support his friend after his MND diagnosis, Sinfield announced in November 2020 that he would run seven marathons in seven days to raise money for Rob and the work of the MND Association. He set himself the target of raising £77,777 as Burrow had worn the number 7 shirt during his playing career. He ran his final marathon on December 7th, 2020, and by that point his target had already been smashed. In total, the funds raised by this challenge surpassed £2 million.
Running Between Leicester & Leeds Stadiums
Sinfield’s quest to raise awareness of the disease and fund research continued the following year when he ran between Leicester Tigers’ home ground and Leeds Rhinos’ Headingley Stadium in under 24 hours. Covering a distance of 101 miles, Sinfield’s target was to raise £100,000, but he once again raised in excess of £2 million, vowing that he would continue fundraising until a cure was found for MND.
Seven Ultramarathons in Seven Days
True to his word, Sinfield’s third fundraising challenge was in 2022 when he set out to run seven ultramarathons in seven consecutive days. He began his challenge at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh and then finished it seven days later at the Rugby League World Cup Final at Old Trafford.
Running Marathon While Pushing Rob Burrow in a Wheelchair
2023 saw the first-ever Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon launched to raise funds and awareness of MND. Now an annual event in Leeds, this inaugural event produced the iconic images of Kevin pushing his friend Rob across the finish line in a wheelchair after completing the entire 26.2-mile course together.
A Second Seven Ultramarathons in Seven Days
In 2024, Sinfield embarked on his fifth quest, which he called Running Home for Christmas. This saw Kevin run seven ultramarathons over seven days, covering seven regions of the UK. The target amount for this challenge was £777,777, but over £1 million was raised in the end.
A Third Seven Ultramarathons in Seven Days
2025 saw Kevin take on the challenge called “7 in 7: Together”, again running seven ultramarathons in seven days and visiting parts of the UK with links to the MND community. After completing this challenge, he had raised an impressive £11 million in total over his six challenges.
Running Between All 12 English Super League Grounds
In June 2026, he announced his seventh and final challenge called “7 in 7: The Grand Finale”. This will see him run between all 12 English Super League grounds, finishing at the Super League Grand Final on October 3rd 2026 and covering at least 27.9 miles a day.
A Well Deserved Knighthood
Arise, Sir Kevin Sinfield 🗡️
England Senior Men’s assistant coach has been awarded a knighthood for services to Rugby League, Rugby Union and Fundraising in the King’s birthday honours.
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 12, 2026
Rob Burrow sadly died of MND in June 2024 so he will not be around to see Sinfield complete his final challenge, but the knighthood he has just been awarded is a fitting tribute to their friendship and dedication. Hard as it may be to believe but Sinfield is only the second rugby league player to be awarded a knighthood after Sir Billy Boston became the first in 2025.
Sir Billy is widely recognised as being one of the greatest rugby league players of all time after scoring a record 571 tries and making 488 appearances for Wigan Warriors. He also made history in the 1950s as the first non-white player to be selected for a GB Rugby League Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand. Sir Kevin is in excellent company.