Vincent Kompany inducted into National Football Museum Hall of Fame
5 May 2023
Manchester City legend and Championship-winning Burnley manager, Vincent Kompany, has become the latest icon of the game to be honoured by being inducted into the National Football Museum's prestigious Hall of Fame.
Kompany was inducted in the Hall of Fame on Friday 5 May during a presentation at the Leisure Box in Burnley, a state-of-the-art leisure facility funded by Burnley FC’s ‘Burnley in the Community’ charity and comes in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the game.
CEO of the National Football Museum, Tim Desmond, was on hand to present the esteemed award to Kompany in front of students on Burnley FC in the Communities education programmes, who had the chance to ask the newly crowned Championship Manager of the Season some questions.
Upon his induction, Kompany said: “It’s a huge honour to be inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame. This is a proud moment for me and to be recognised alongside such legends of the game is a great accolade.”
"I’m very humbled with the award. I’m looking at this room: not so long ago, I feel like one of the kids in the background over there, just trying to enjoy the game, to get better every day, and today I’m here on this seat. I was one of you not so long ago, so follow your dreams, surround yourself with good people and good things will happen."
The National Football Museum Hall of Fame aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of those who have made an outstanding contribution to football. Given his legendary status on the pitch and huge efforts off it, Kompany was seen as the perfect inductee and joins the likes of Bobby Moore, Jack Leslie, Terry Butcher and Kerry Davis in being honoured.
The Hall of Fame judging panel voted unanimously to induct Kompany in recognition of his exceptional achievements in the sport, as well as noble work outside of football, such as his endeavours to tackle homelessness in Manchester with his Tackle4MCR fund.
Burnley FC in the Community is the official and award-winning Burnley FC charity delivering projects across Education & Employability, Community Welfare & Inclusion and Football Development as well as a thriving portfolio of community facilities: The Leisure Box, Whitehough Outdoor Centre, and the Foodbank.
The charity works hard to use the power of football to inspire, support and deliver positive change for all. The highly skilled and passionate team deliver over 50 community projects that touch the lives of variety of people, from preschool through to pensioners, in and around Burnley encompassing key areas including mental health, youth violence and food poverty.
During his illustrious playing career spanning 18 years, he picked up six league titles, two coming from his boyhood club Anderlecht, with the other four coming from his most notable legacy at Manchester City. Kompany captained the Citizens for eight of his eleven seasons during the club’s most decorated period and was immortalised in steel outside the Etihad Stadium in 2021.
As well as his club successes, Kompany captained his national team of Belgium for almost half of his 15-year international career. Most notably, Kompany carried his country to their greatest ever World Cup campaign in 2018, beating England in the third-place playoff.
Photos: Burnley Football Club.
Tim Desmond, Chief Executive of the National Football Museum, said:
“Vincent Kompany is an excellent addition to the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame and is the epitome of what the accolade represents. His excellence and outstanding impact spans his playing career at both a club and national level, and his managerial successes with Burnley Football Club’s recent Championship title win.
The Hall of Fame also enables us to shine a light on his off-pitch achievements with Kompany’s commitment to tacking homelessness in Manchester in addition to the vital work of Burnley in the Community.”
