Havant hockey legend David Faulkner feels ‘very humbled’ after being awarded MBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours list

The 58-year-old, born and bred in Portsmouth, was among a group - including current England football internationals Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling - who were honoured for ‘services to sport’.

Faulkner’s sporting career started when he first played hockey for Havant in 1977. Playing wise, it peaked in 1988 when he was part of the GB side that won Olympic gold in Seoul.

Two years earlier, Faulkner had won World Cup silver with England.

After playing his final game for Havant in 1995, after helping the club win three National league titles in four years he found a new sporting career as an administrator.

After a period as Havant’s director of coaching, Faulkner became England Hockey’s Performance Director from 2005 to 2012 - a period that culminated in third and fourth placed finishes for GB’s women and men at the London Olympics.

In the spring of 2017, he left his role as director of sport at Somerset school Millfield to become the Football Association’s head of women’s performance.

Prior to the pandemic, he spent a lot of time based at St George’s Park where he got to see close-up the workings of Gareth Southgate and Dan Ashworth, who was the FA’s director of elite development.

In his role as team leader for the GB women’s football team, Faulkner will be flying out to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics on July 7.

Recalling how he found out about his MBE, Faulkner told The News: ‘I was totally surprised.

‘When I played, it was always a case of ‘team first’ and in my roles as performance director and team leader I was always happy in the background.

‘I found out about four weeks ago when I had an email letter from the Cabinet office on behalf of the Prime Minister.

‘I had to sit there and read it a few times before it could sink in. It was just ‘wow!’

‘I feel very humbled and I feel very proud for my family, especially my wife Jane who has stood by me for 36 years.

‘I obviously had no idea it was going to happen. I have no idea who put my name forward (for recommendation).’

Faulkner, who for the last two years has been Havant Hockey Club’s president, has no idea when he will be presented with his MBE, due to Covid restrictions.

He is no stranger to Buckingham Palace, though, having been invited there after the 1988 Olympic success and also in his role as an administrator.

Faulkner was also ‘very fortunate’ to host The Queen at the Olympic Village the day after the 2012 London 2012 opening ceremony.

Growing up in Portsmouth, Faulkner – who has recently moved from Fareham to Warsash - occasionally went to Fratton Park to watch Pompey, though hockey was always his number one sport.

He has other Blues links - recently departed defender Jack Whatmough is his nephew and Pompey physio John Dickens helped his preparations for the Seoul Games 33 years ago.

But he had never worked in football prior to taking on the women’s performance director role with the FA four years ago.

A large part of his role has been to help ‘professionalise’ the Women’s Super League clubs in terms of ‘strength and conditioning, physio, psychology.

‘I have loved the job, it’s been an unbelievable journey - there’s been unbelievable growth in the women’s game.

‘It’s obviously different from the men’s game - you don’t get the same crowds and you don’t get the same commercial deals.’

Next up for Faulkner is his fourth Olympics, and his third as an administrator, as team leader for the GB women’s team in Japan.

There has obviously been a lot of talk about whether the Games, postponed from last year, should even take place in 2021. But Faulkner is convinced that ‘everything will have been done to make it as safe and secure as possible.’

He certainly knows all about the necessary protocols, having been the official Covid officer for the Women’s Super League clubs in the past year.