Andy Murray almost breaks down in tears after being awarded 'Freedom of Stirling'

Andy Murray

On being accorded the ‘freedom of Stirling’, one of the highest honours in the city of Stirling, Scotland, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray got emotional and fought hard to hold back his tears. He expressed his gratitude to the local officials for bestowing this privilege upon him.

“Everyone knows how proud I am of where I come from…to get this honour means a lot,” he said.

All his dear ones were present when Murray received the badge of honour. The presentation ceremony was conducted at Dunblane High, where Murray went to school. The reigning Wimbledon champion grew up in Dunblane, which is approximately 5 km to the north of Stirling.

The Stirling city officials had decided to grant Murray this honour to mark his twin 2012 achievements – winning the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and capturing his first Major title at the US Open later in the year.

A sentimental Murray said, “I’m going to keep this very short because there’s a good chance I’ll get emotional. I’d like to thank the council for voting me in – I was expecting a few no’s. I was thinking, ‘There’s got to be one of you who doesn’t like me’. I’d like to thank all my family and friends and girlfriend for coming to support me.”

Murray had to take breaks between his speech in order to keep his composure. He went on to add, “I think everyone knows I’m extremely proud of where I come from. To get this honour means a lot to me so thanks to everyone for coming along – and I apologise for this behaviour.”

In addition to the freedom of Stirling, Murray was also given an honorary doctorate from the University of Stirling, where he trained at one point of time.

Murray later explained his emotional reaction to being given the award. “I don’t get the chance to come back that often and I don’t get the chance to see my family as much as I would like, and I’m very proud of where I come from. So to get this honour from my local council means a lot. I don’t think anyone would have really expected it – tennis players don’t really come from Scotland, so it’s a strange story, but shows that anything can happen if you believe and you dream and work hard, then you can achieve whatever you want to,” an overwhelmed Andy said.

“It was a difficult decision to move away but one that I had to make and I’m lucky that my family supported me in that decision because it was hard for them too. You spend a lot of time on the road – tennis can be quite lonely sometimes – but it was a decision that had to be made if I wanted to achieve my goal,” he finished.